Please ADD your own Las Vegas Trip Report. Date of Trip: February 05, 2006 to February 08, 2006 Hotel Stayed At: Harrah's Laughlin Report by: YahtzeeinCA <> From: Carlsbad, CA

Trip Report: 02/05/06 to 2/08/06

“The Laughlin Trip”

The regular season for my football and softball leagues ended last week. We ended up 1st and 2nd, respectively, so we had a bye this weekend. Since I had no obligations (other than a Superbowl party), I decided to hit Laughlin. Harrah’s Laughlin had been sending me free offers since my August trip, so I took them up it. The offer included free $50, free room, and free show. In a nutshell, I planned on getting a lot of well-deserved rest, attaining Diamond status (to use through 2008), do an overall assessment of the Laughlin casino scene, and find free wi-fi spots in the area… I didn’t rest much, accomplished the other objectives, and gambled enough to take care of the minor jones for at least a couple of months.

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jones (jOnz) n, vt. A habit of an activity, a craving or urge to perform an act often to the point of excess. An addiction, esp. to drugs, sports, gambling, and other enjoyable actions. Borrowed from the cartoon “Fat-Albert” and the drug-ladened 60’s and early 70’s.
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SUNDAY February 05, (Day 1)

Left Carlsbad for Laughlin at noon and arrived in Laughlin at 4:10 (320 miles). Today is Superbowl XL (Seahawks vs Steelers). Game time is ~3:30pm. Since I wasn’t overly excited about this game and figured I would blow off the party, record it, and watch it later.

After check in (Central tower), I went straight for the

EDIT TO REMOVE PLAY

After resting a bit and watching the Superbowl, I went back down to play some more (-120). I should have stopped playing, but I was well within my allotted budget for this play. After picking up my Diamond card and my free $50 at the cage, I hit the buffet for dinner. I used a 2/1 coupon and covered the balance with points… pretty good deal.

HARRAH’S FRESH MARKET SQUARE BUFFET (Standard weekday dinner): I rated the brunch menu slightly above average in 08/05. The standard weekday dinner was no different. The entire buffet area is non-smoking. The Diamond seating area is immediately to the right and comes with more waitresses per customer than the common area. All food ratings, below, were lower than normal due to the fact that I started at 8:15pm (9pm dinner closure). This means that the majority of foods have been sitting around a while. Nevertheless, the tastes of the foods were very good, the atmosphere was pleasant and the service was consistent. Lastly, the buffet is currently open for a late night session from 9pm to 3am due to the renovation of the coffee shop.
Standard prices are $10.99 for brunch and $13.99 for dinner. (-2)

(10/10 is perfecto, 7 = good, 5 = edible, 3 = not fit for human consumption)

Atmosphere = 8.0
Service = 8.5
Variety = 7.5
Quality = 7.0
Value = 8.0
Overall experience = 8.0

1. Spicy Crab Sushi (6.5)
2. Philly Sushi (6.0)
3. California Roll (6.0)
4. Teppanyaki Chicken (7.0)
5. Egg Roll (7.5)
6. Fried Pork Dumplings (Gyoza) (8.0)

NOTE: “99 luftballons” sure is a stupid song. It was followed by another winner, “Come on Eileen” by the legendary group, Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

7. Prime Rib (7.0)
8. “Bronzed” Salmon (4.5) (I’ve never had good fish in a buffet)
9. String Beans (7.0)
10. Breaded Shrimp (6.0) (mini-shrimp should not be breaded and fried)
11. Broccoli Au Gratin (6.5)
12. Cashew Chicken (6.0) (and I normally like Cashew Chicken)
13. Farfalle Rustica (7.0) (1st time… not bad)
14. Penne al Vodka (5.5) (they should drop this one)
15. Chili (7.0)
16. Cream of Broccoli Soup (7.5)
17. Dried Chicken… errr…Fried Chicken (5.5)
18. Bread pudding, apple pie, hand-scooped vanilla and strawberry ice cream (8.5)

And that was it for the day.

DAILY TOTALS
VP: -180
MISC (Food, accommodations, gas, transportation, tips, etc): +48


MONDAY, February 6 (Day 2)

Plans for the day included a search for free Wi-Fi spots, gas up, work a little in the morning, check out the north-end casinos, and upgrade my room to the south tower.

Unlike Vegas, this little town of Laughlin is very quiet in the morning. No traffic at all. I cruised up Casino Drive towards the bridge and found quite a few non-encrypted router signals, but none had connectivity. Crossed the bridge over to Bullhead City and filled up for 30 cents less per gallon at the FastTrip gas station ($2.30/gal) (-10 and used a $10 Visa gift card from The Cannery). Decent connectivity right across the street near the Best Western. The best signal was found at The El Rio RV Park and motel (1641 hwy 95). Just park in the vacant building parking lot next door and use the "default" connection.

Headed over to THE RIVERSIDE. Signed up for a card, played 8/5 bonus for a while (-100) and headed out. Not much to play here. Craps is now $3 with 3x4x5x odds. I don’t think I’ll ever come back. Didn’t like the atmosphere.

Headed over to THE FLAMINGO. Used a 2/1 coupon for a couple of double cheeseburgers at their Burger King (-2). I was craving a burger for some reason. Played some 8/5 bonus (-100). Craps is now $3 with 2x odds. I’ll never be back.

Headed over to THE EDGEWATER. Played craps on their 15’ table and had a decent time (+50). It’s still $1 with 5x odds. Played FPDW for a while (-100). I liked the feel of this casino. I’ve stayed here once before and I may stay here again some day.

Back over to HET. Time to use the Diamond card for some free grub. The Diamond lounge is nothing special here. It’s very small (20 tables inside, 10 outside). There were only 2 types of “finger” sandwiches. The Italian wrap and Foccacia club sandwiches were tasty. They also had a plate of assorted veggies, and chips/salsa. They did not check ID. That was pretty much dinner for me.

After a short session REMOVED (+10), I called it a night.

DAILY TOTALS
VP: -240
CRAPS: +50
MISC (Food, accommodations, gas, transportation, tips, etc): -12


TUESDAY, February 7 (Day 3)

Plans for the day included a final check of free Wi-Fi spots in town, and to check out the remaining casinos.

After cruising up Casino Drive again, I am now fairly certain that there are no free Wi-Fi spots in Laughlin. That’s probably intentional. So, over the bridge again to Bullhead City to do some work and check my emails. Not a big deal, since it’s only a few miles away.

Stopped off at THE RAMADA EXPRESS to sign up and play a little. This is a pretty clean casino with a decent environment. They have 10/6/4 Double Double Jackpot (DDJ) which is 100.03% with a 38 variance. It’s pretty fun (+100). You hit a quad ace/face with an ace/face, and it doubles your JP. Craps is $3 with 3x odds (up from 2x) on a 12’ table. Not a bad game if they use the divider.

Drove over to RIVER PALMS. I like this casino. It’s wide open and they have FPDW, but their craps are only 2x odds. What’s up with that? I cycled over 4k on a single bill. That was enough for a sweatshirt (-100). We’ll see what kind of offers show up. If they send me one, it’ll be an easy one to stiff.

Walked over to THE GOLDEN NUGGET. The have this 9/6/5 DDJ game that’s 100.35%. I hit aces (+100). Checked out their craps. It’s still $3 min, but they went from 10x to 3x odds. This is a low-ceiling casino and is very smoky. I don’t think I’ll be back.

Walked over to THE PIONEER. Signed up and played 9/6 JoB for quite a while (-20). This is another low and smoky casino. The craps min went from $3 to $5, but the odds are still 10x. In retrospect, I should not have played here. If I wouldn’t want to stay here, why give them any play at all?

Walked over to THE COLORADO BELLE just to take a look. This is just another MGM/MIR property. Decent atmosphere, but I won’t be back. Craps is still $2 but with 2x odds.

Back over to Harrah’s for some free grub. Again, the Diamond lounge did not check for ID. Again, the food was exactly the same. It’s actually pretty tasty stuff, so I didn’t mind.

Time for some more REMOVED (-300)..

Time to wrap up the trip with some craps (+265). I walked up to a VERY cold table at SR1. I got the dice right away and was told that I was the first to hit a point in an hour. I’m thinking, “yeah, right”. I had a nice 10 minute run. The table was a little downhill for a while until the dice came back to our side. This biker dude on the hook goes on a nice 15 minute run. Color coming in. What a nice way to end a trip. Sleep by 10pm.

DAILY TOTALS

VP: -120
CRAPS: +265
MISC (Food, accommodations, transportation, non-gambling tips, etc): 0


WEDNESDAY, February 8 (Day 4)

Up and out by 4:30am. Made it back home in 260 minutes… plenty of time to prepare for my 11am meeting.


GRAND TOTALS

VP: -640
CRAPS: +315
MISC (Cash back, food, accommodations, transportation, tips, etc): +36


NET LOSS: $289


SUMMARY and FINAL THOUGHTS

-This was my first dedicated trip to Laughlin. I was somewhat pleased with the results, and felt that I was rather unfortunate (unlucky) to come out slightly on the negative side.

-Laughlin is about 20 minutes further than Vegas. If it weren’t for the summer river activities, I don’t think I would be back for a while.

-Overall, the craps and VP conditions are tolerable in Laughlin. The craps could use improvement at some of the properties. 2x odds in this town is simply ridiculous. They also need to upgrade their machines. With the exception of HET, coin-droppers still dominate the scene (like Vegas 10-12 years ago).

-Casino workers seem much nicer in Laughlin than in Vegas or Henderson.

-Laughlin needs free connectivity (like most cities have).

-The only casinos that I would stay and play at include The Edgewater and Harrah's (and maybe Ramada Express).

Thanks for reading.
God Bless America.

Mike

YahtzeeinCA <> - Carlsbad, CA    2861

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