Here are my thoughts...
Bowling - Bowled Monday 5-7 at 2:30 PM. Was scheduled to bowl minors the next morning, but some of our guys wanted to bowl Monday at 11:30 PM. The regestration desk lady, Gabe, was extrememly helpful, and moved all five doubles teams to that 11:30 PM squad. In other words, we bowled all nine games in one day.
I bowled best on the fresh oil in the team event. We tried to get everybody to break down 10 in practice, which we found that only myself and Poodle and my 65 year old uncle were actually committed to. Two of my guys tried about two shots, then abandoned "breakdown 10" to find a line. The companion team had a lefty, and a cranker with a lot of hand. A couple of guys were outside players, so what ended up happening was that we broke down 8 and 9, allowing us some margin for error late in the team event.
Disclaimer... I am not as good as I want to think I am, and with my elbow injury, my arm won't always do what I tell it to do. With that said, the lanes played pretty much like everyone had said. Those in our group using sanded equipment and slower speed scored pretty well. Those spraying the lanes or trying to throw polished stuff didn't score well.
I bowled 183-204-189=576 in team. I bowled far worse in Game 1 than my score indicated (my only two strikes were a double that were both crossovers. I only missed one spare that game), and I bowled far better in Game 3 than my score indicated (I only had one double, a cold-8 and a ring-10 in what could have been a five-bagger, and I cherried a 6-10). My $100 bracket investment resulted in $260. Pin Head's 662 series (214-214-234) with a $1000 bracket investment resulted in almost $4000.
Minors got ugly for me. And I know that it was mostly me because my 65-year old uncle had four games over 230 in minors, and both Poodle and Pin Head had 270+ games in the last game of singles. I started playing the same line (and speed) as I ended team with, and started with a turkey. A couple of taps, a missed spare, and I had a 201 game. Then the wheels came off. When the lanes started to change, instead of following my strategy of just migrating in, I started changing balls to polished (it went everywhere but towards the pocket), then picking up my speed (no balls read the lane at the speed I was throwing). Throw in a sore elbow that didn't allow for a consistent release, and I had a couple of 530s in doubles and singles. It was 95% my doing, and I really beat myself up over it. Enough of the bowling. It was exactly as advertised, and I got exactly the results I had earned.
Hotel - We stayed at the Circus Circus in the SkyTower, and only have a minor complaint... for two of the three days, neither of the trams was in operation. However, the new walkway between the two towers was actually a pretty short walk, and far quicker than the tram anyway. We were given a room on the 26th floor with an outstanding view, the room was clean and comfortable, everybody was courteous.
Gambling - The dice at CC were hot for all three days (and I played craps almost exclusively) allowing me a five day trip - with a before and after day in Las Vegas - that cost my wife and I only $300.
I had one run at the craps table that will probably end up in the "Greatest Gambling Moments" thread on the forum in three years. Monday after we bowled team and ate dinner, we went to the hotel to take a nap before going back to bowl the minors. I woke up at 9:30, and decided to roll the bones for a half hour before going to the Stadium. I got to the table in mid-point, so I placed a Come bet (with full odds). It was hit almost immediately, then the shooter made the point. The one shooter rolled for almost 40 minutes. At 10:15, my wife had to pull me away from the table. I pulled my Pass and Come odds off the table (leaving the points for the dealers), and colored-up with a $468 win. As the banker is counting my money, the guy next to me asked if I would make as much money bowling. I said that I hoped to, but probably not. As I detailed above, I didn't. After bowling (about 2:30 AM), I stopped back at the craps table and the same croupier said that the shooter rolled for another 20 minutes, and that the shooter claimed a $2000 win on just his roll.
Another quick story, as we were leaving Wednesday morning, I realized that I hadn't used my $5 match play coupon at CC, so I made a quick stop at the Pai Gow Poker table. I bet $10 (plus the coupon) and a buck on the Bonus spot and after two pushes, I was dealt a straight flush that included a pair of 10s and pair of Jacks. I won the hand and $50 for the straight flush, and won a total of $75 just because I wanted to use a coupon.
Other hotels/gambling - Stopped by the Siena Spa. I will spend lots of time here on future visits. Very classy, and on Wednesday morning, very empty. Drinks are served in crystal glasses, the tables are wood trimmed and the dealers were very pleasant. This is right downtown, but no neon or video signs outside. You won't find this place on accident, but it is a wonderful find.
The Cal Neva deal (they cover $200 losses or match wins to $200 after one hour of play on their slot club) is exactly as advertised. However, they counted losses differently than I did. I had a bad run early, and after an hour, I had put in $170 out of my pocket into the machines. I went to claim my credit, and the lady said that I had lost $297. Apparently, when I won credits (and then lost them), it counted as my losses. I did hit a better run with my free $200, as I was able to recover $173. In other words, I came out $3 ahead for my work. My wife, on the other hand, played the same nickel slot for then entire hour, and won about $2. She was rewarded with $2, and got bored watching me go through my $200 credit.
We went to the Oyster Bar at the Atlantis for dinner Sunday night and the Jambalya was fantastic. Didn't gamble there, though. Stopped for dinner and our "fun book" at Harrahs. We didn't have our USBC cards with us (they were in the car because I had used them all to check in at the stadium), but they accepted my uncle's ring as proof he was a bowler, I had a USBC bowling shirt on, and my wife (who is not a bowler) had a ABC jacket from Baton Rouge that they accepted.
Had breakfast one morning at Mel's Diner at the Sands. Riggs, my wife thanks you for the suggestion. The craps was good there, too. My wife even hit a nickel slot for $140 in the hour or so that we gambled there.
Lake Tahoe - On our previous trip to Reno, my wife and I had taken a dinner cruise on the MS Dixie II. We did some searching, and found a champaign sunset sailboat cruise.
http://www.tahoeboatcruises.com/woodwind2.htm The Woodwind II is a catamaran that is meant to be enjoyed on the deck, although they had a lower, enclosed bar area. Warning - bring a jacket, it gets cold. Neither my wife nor I planned ahead because we were out and about a warm Reno all day. Thankfully, they provided blankets and my wife huddeled under two blankets for the two hour trip. The Stateline/Tahoe area is as beautiful as I remembered it, and I am very glad I chose this last minute side trip. We stopped at Harvey's to eat and gamble a bit, then drove back to Reno around midnight. This, unless you are brave, is not necessarily recommended. My wife was so afraid that she sat on her hands until we got to Carson City (out of the mountains). The drive from Tahoe to Carson City was pitch dark, very little traffic, and tight turns around the mountains. In addition, twice an animal ran in front of the car. One looked like a racoon, one was bigger, like a small bobcat, or something else with pointy, furry ears.
I apologize if this post got wordy, but other than the bowling, I really enjoyed the trip and wanted to share it. I do know that I will go back to my doctor about the elbow, and tell him that the stretching and strengthening exercise program didn't work as well as we had hoped. He had talked me out of the steroid injection, and was sure that the therapy would work. Since the elbow does feel better, my league average didn't suffer. But in Reno, I could tell every bad shot I threw, and not one of them were saved by the lane condition.
