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Trip reports are fun to read.  I've started posting trip reports here when they contain multiple casinos.  I transfer the information about each casino to its own page, then post the complete report here in chronological order.

Date:  March 31, 2008
Locations:  Las Vegas - Wynn Casino
Contributed by:  The Casino Camper

The Buffet, Wynn Las Vegas
 
If you haven't eaten The Buffet on a comp where have you been?  Wynn has been comping The Buffet for new "Red Card" club members for over a year (since March of 2007 on the current promotion) making this high-end buffet a real Las Vegas bargain. 
 
As a new slot club member, your first 25 points earn one free buffet, and your next 25 points a second one!  Points accumulate at a rate of 1 point for $9 coin-in, so $450 coin-in equals two buffets – life is good!  
 
But wait -- as they say on the TV infomercials "that's not all!".  By earning another 450 points for a total of 500 (another $4,050 coin-in) you receive 2 more buffets, and something worth almost as much – a line pass, allowing you to avoid the often hour long wait.
 
We decided to sign up individually, on different nights, so we could each play for the buffet comps.  I'm not sure this works if you sign up at the same time together, but doing it on two days was foolproof.  Also, if you see Spamalot first, and then join, you get $25 free slot play.
 
** My original draft this section contained several paragraphs explaining the EV and Risk-of-Ruin for both parts of this play.  If you're curious about that email me.  I used Dunbar's Risk Analyzer for Video Poker to establish bankrolls. 
 
Short version?  The first two buffets cost an average of $2.25 in negative ER, and the second two $20.25.  However, you could lose (or win) a whole lot more.  I recommend $175 bankroll for the first two buffets and $700 for the second two. **
 
So, how good is the buffet?
 
The rating for any buffet depends on who you ask, how well their likes and dislikes match up with the buffet menu, whether they get fresh served food, or 30 minutes old in the warming trays, etc.  We ate The Buffet twice, once early on a weeknight, then late on a Friday:  I liked it a lot, and Chris wasn't impressed. 
 
One reason for this is that I like to experiment with a wide variety of foods, and I have very few dislikes.  Chris, on the other hand, is looking for high quality and variety in mostly chicken, vegetables, and Chinese.  So I enjoyed sampling the grilled buffalo salad, two styles of lamb (ginger t-bone chops and grilled rack), and 5 different fish entrees (salmon, sole, halibut, tuna, and red snapper).  All ranged from good to great.  Chris lamented that the pork chops were a cheap cut (full of bones) and dry, and that her fried chicken leg was small and fatty.  She didn't complain about the Asian foods, or the vegetables, so those were "just ok".  Her favorite item was the sugar free chocolate cake, which she said was excellent. 
 
I agree that the deserts are good.  Portions are kept small, which is nice for sampling multiple items; however, it doesn't work so well for the Crème Brulee – there was WAY too much brulee, and not enough crème!  Another minor problem with the deserts, there are no plates, so be sure to pick one up from the main buffet line before entering the desert room.  .
 
One negative for both of us was the drink service.  It took a long time to order drinks, and a long time for delivery, to get refills, and to get coffee after dinner.  This happened both times, and we overheard other diners talking later about the same thing. 
 
So if you're a sampler like me the Wynn Buffet is a good choice (especially as a comp); however, if you're looking for good basic comfort food you may want to skip this one in favor of the Bougainvillea Café at Terribles or the Buffet at Santa Fe Station -- places that Chris and I both enjoy.
 
We have more comps for Wynn, and I'll report back if we notice any changes.
 
Happy travels!
 
Mac

Date:  March 22, 2008
Locations:  Las Vegas
Contributed by:  The Casino Camper

Trip Report – 19 Days in Las Vegas (and counting)
 
We arrived in Las Vegas on March 5th traveling in our motorhome.  Chris had an offer from Paris for a 3 night stay and a Coach purse as a gift.  Not bad for a low roller.  We didn't need the room, but Chris wanted the purse, end of discussion.
 
Unfortunately, the previously playable Quarter, Half, and Dollar video poker at Paris has been downgraded.  The best you can find now is 7/5 BP and 8/5 JOB.  We rarely play at a 2% disadvantage, but we make an exception a few times a year, and this would be one of those times. 
 
Chris played 3 days at Paris and Bally's with worse than expected results.  How bad?  Well, let's just say that we've discovered an area of the Bell Curve that was previously unexplored!  On the plus side, we did have fun, and we ate well, and it really IS a nice purse.  Mercifully the sun came up on March 8th and we checked out of Paris. 
 
We relocated to the RV Park at Nellis Air Force Base in North Las Vegas and planned to play like locals for a week.  Over the next 5 days we played at the Palms, Palace Station, Red Rock, and Green Valley Ranch.  In each case we had both comps and coupons for food and some matchplay coupons for table games.  Most of our coupons came from the Las Vegas Advisor book, and The American Casino Guide.  We don't go to Las Vegas without them. 
 
Our video poker results improved somewhat, and we enjoyed our first visits to Red Rock and GVR – we will be back!  We like the FPDW there, and the buffets are above average.  On the 8th at the Palms we actually left the casino with a profit (imagine that) when I hit a couple 4's of a kind on their Dollar 10/7 DB progressive. 
 
On the 9th, I went to a local event to see several prominent gambling writers; Jean Scott, Henry Tamburin, Steve Bourie, and Scot Krause.  I enjoyed meeting them in person after reading their books and articles for many years and corresponding with them by email and in forums.
 
Not having learned our lesson at Paris, on March 13 we played tourist again for 3 nights, this time downtown at Main Street Station.  We ate most lunch and dinner meals at the Market Street Café in the California Casino.  The Cal caters to Hawaiian travelers and a large percentage of their clientele are from the islands.  The menus reflect this, with Hawaiian dishes including lots of fish.  I decided to "go Hawaiian" and ate these daily, Butterfish, Grilled Mahi-Mahi, Miso Salmon, etc. all with seasoning, sauces, and side dishes that I'd never tasted before, and always with steamed rice.  They also had Spam on the menu, which is very popular in Hawaii.  I like spam too, but I can't order it in public or Chris will pick on me.
 
How was the gambling you ask?  I won't bore you with the details.  The results were similar to Paris, but without the free Coach purse.   So on March 16th back to Nellis AFB we went, and back to the locals casinos!
 
In the past 7 days we've played at Wynn, Texas Station, Santa Fe Station, and the Palms.  On work days we head out right after I end my day, play an hour or so, eat, and then play a little more.  We made two visits to Wynn, one to sign up for a players card and earn two free buffets, then a second time to eat the two free buffets and earn two more.  I'll have a separate post about that in a day or two.  The other days we were either in a Station casino or the Palms.  Last year Chris earned Platinum tier at Stations, but we didn't know until we arrived this year and they gave her the card.  With Platinum you get a 50% discount on buffets.  What's even better for us low-rollers, you can combine points and coupons, so we conserve on our points by using a 2 for 1 buffet coupon and paying for the one buffet with points.  Conserving points is more important now at Stations, because they doubled the coin-in required to earn a point on FPDW and other positive machines.  We're considering getting a local address so we can qualify for point multiplier days, food coupon mailings, and bounce back cash. 
 
I should also give you a brief food report.  We've been eating buffets and quick meals.  We've eaten dinner buffets at 5 of the Station casinos, so far Green Valley Ranch is our favorite, and we still need to visit Boulder and Sunset.  I'll write a complete report once we've made the circuit.  We've also eaten at Gold Coast and at Wynn.  We haven't had a "bad" meal, but some were much better than others.  Palace Station is currently at the bottom of the list.  In addition to buffets we've eaten several quick comped meals at the Panda Express in the Palms food court.  They do a very good job, and we especially like the chow-mein.  We also ate once at Gardunos in Palms.  Predictably good Mexican food and good service.
 
Over the next couple of weeks we're going to make a decision about obtaining a local address, and then consider giving some play to the Coast casinos.  We've been told by some people that the Coasts are more attractive for low-roller locals now than Stations.  We're also planning one more journey to the Evil Empire (my pet name for Harrah's properties).  Chris has yet another free purse offer, this one from Bally's on April 3-5.  We leave Las Vegas early on the morning of April 9th for a week long trip into California for my "day job".  Our plan is to return to Las Vegas and stay until it gets too hot, then run up to Reno. 
 
I'll post the report on the Wynn buffet soon, and will report back again after we leave Bally's – hopefully with happier results.

Date:  March 20, 2008
Locations:  Casino Del Sol, Tucson, AZ
Contributed by:  B. Santana

We stayed at the Del Sol in Tucson AZ in March 2008. There is plenty of room to spread out.  The restaurants offer great food for a reasonable price.

There are 4 issues I would like to address. Some of us are not good guests in regards to being careful with the hosts property.  Dog owners don't clean up after their pets. Some even stay inside the rig and let their pets run free until business is done. In reality it's only a second to pick up the doo, no big deal. We visited the casino with a group of friends and several rigs. We took our dogs across the street to a huge lot that surrounds the casino property and everything was fine.

Security is paying much attention to the big rigs who damage the pavements with their jacks. Everyday they drive around and require that the jacks are set up on wood, as there are already big holes everywhere in the pavement. Another issue is the trash. Some of us are confusing the little trash bins with dumpsters. The last issue is glass and empty soda cans. They are just being thrown away where ever some people please too. Bottles are thrown out while driving. I had to sweep our area first before we placed the rig. A little more courtesy and we find parking spaces for years to come.
So please don't spoil it for the rest of us.

Date:  March 12, 2008

Locations:  Casino Del Sol, Tucson, AZ

Contributed by:  A Casino Camper reader

I have enjoyed reading your site. My wife and I have been full timing for 3 years now and we would like to share a few tips with you.

We have been parking at casino Del Sol in Tucson and Desert diamond. When you go to Del Sol they have holes in the pavement, as a result of the plunger jacks with round base. They are still nice but very upset. When I mentioned that to an RV'er his reply was that I drop a "bunch of quarters here and that pays for a lot of holes". If we do not keep a watch on ourselves then they will begin to place restrictions. At Del Sol security now comes and asks you to raise your jacks and leaves you notes, but the management is thinking about further restrictions. We have noticed the same thing with Sams and Wal-Mart's in places that get hot in the summer. Where is the common sense?

Another issue is Pets. first most RV'er do not clean up after their pets and that is also becoming an issue here as well. It's your pet, then clean up after it!  Last week in Desert Diamond at Nogales highway, some one left their dog outside and her water and food ran out and there was 5 security guys trying to address the problem and the owners were gone. They asked the people to leave because they were obnoxious. You may think that these are trashy RV people but these are some nice $200,000 plus rigs. The security in Desert diamond now is constantly on the look out for pet being left outside or unattended.  They say pets is not their problem and Rightly so.

Another issue is trash. They have trash bins but that does not mean that one can do a spring clean up and fill up these bins. Last time the wind blew trash was all over and I and some other RV'er tried to clean as much as we could.  This is what my wife and I do. We have 2 separate trash bags inside. We put all the wrappers and boxes and other stuff in one bag and crush and save them until we find a large bin like in an RV park. and we have a small bag that we use for other junk. I also keep track of every one of my smoke butts and put them in a bag in my side bin.

So If you could help us out a little bit and publish this info, however you like, that would be great. We must remember that parking in these nice places for free is a privilege and not a right. specially when the dumpy RV parks around here charge $30 or more per night.

Date:  March 1, 2008

Locations:  Mississippi Gulf Coast Casinos

Contributed by:  The Casino Camper

Yesterday, someone reminded me that I haven't posted a trip report from our recent visit to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was a short stop due to a tighter than usual travel schedule, but we visited 5 casinos in 4 days.

The night before leaving Florida we reviewed all our casino mail and sorted out the offers we planned to use. We had mailings from Beau Rivage and Imperial Palace in Biloxi, and Hollywood in Bay St. Louis. Looking at expiration dates and the amount of free play and comps we determined what days to visit each casino to achieve the best overall value. One coupon from Hollywood for free play and two free buffets was going to expire the next day, so that was our first destination.

On Sunday, we pulled in around 3:00 PM and Chris went straight for her favorite video poker machine, while I deployed our Datastorm satellite internet system to get a little work done.

Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis, MS has taken advantage of the new Mississippi laws enacted since Hurricane Katrina that allow casinos to rebuild on land instead of on barges anchored at the shore. They're doing a booming business with many locals, day-trippers from surrounding areas, and vacationers from Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and other states. They have an RV park with full hookups, and also allow free overnight parking in their ample paved parking lot (although unofficially).

Around 6:00 PM I joined Chris inside and we headed for the dinner buffet. Hollywood keeps the comp line very short by routing most buffet coupon holders through the pay line, and the line was huge, probably 45 minutes to an hour! Lucky for us Chris plays a lot more than me, (and I usually play on her card) so she had coupons that included "COMP LINE" in bold capital letters. The buffet was as good as ever and included Snow Crab and Dungeness Crab, shrimp both boiled and fried, catfish, and much more.

Monday morning after working a few hours at our "day job" we headed east, down US-90. The Bay St. Louis bridge that was destroyed in Katrina has been rebuilt, but there's road construction all along the coast as US-90 is being completely repaved. It was never kept in great condition before, so when it's finished it should be in the best condition of the last 25 years. We took a spot in the RV park on Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi. After lunch, and a little more work, we headed for the next two casinos on our schedule.

Chris needed to play at a Harrah's property before March 1st to keep her Reward Credits from expiring. Harrah's owns the Grand Casino in Biloxi, and they have Dollar 9/5 JOB Progressive at the bar. Not the best game in town, but fairly attractive. I went along and we both played on Chris' card for a few hours – no RF to report, but one of us broke even

Next we drove to the IP to use our free play and coupon for 2 free buffets. The IP previously had a bank of excellent MGMD machines (excellent for South Mississippi) that included APDW, 9/6 JOB, and 8/5/175 BP in Quarter, Half, and Dollar denominations. These were perfect for us because we play at those levels, Chris loves bonus poker, and 8/5/175 pays back over 99.6% . Better still, APDW returns over 99.9%. After you add in cash-back and comps it was a very nice play. Alas, it is no more. No good VP machines remain at the Quarter or Half Dollar level, but you can still play Dollar 9/6 JOB. The buffet is OK, but not as good as Hollywood in our opinion. For casual food at the IP we like their coffee shop, the High Tide Cafe.

Tuesday we again worked the day job, then headed to the Beau Rivage where Chris had $100 free play for this half of the month. They've been tightening up in marketing lately, which is evident because Chris previously received $200 ($400/mo) on the same amount of play. I played cash NL Hold'em, lost my buy-in and decided to play one of their two 10/6/40 DDB machines. It's 99.9% but the variance will kill you, and this time I found myself in the wrong tail of the bell curve. Chris played 7/5 BP, because she absolutely hates DDB. The Beau is one of our favorite casinos, and they comp us fairly well so we put up with the short pay. After each of us lost our daily bankroll we picked up a comp for the Memphis Q restaurant. As the name implies they serve Memphis style BBQ and we love their ribs. Since it was comped we both ordered a full rack, and I had 2 glasses of wine. It was a great dinner, and we carried home a full rack – that's my idea of great leftovers!

Wednesday dawned and we moved our RV down the road to Gulfport, MS. We heard about the new Island View Casino and wanted to check it out. The former owners of the Copa Casino, which was destroyed in Katrina, purchased the remaining land-side buildings belonging to the old Gulfport Grand. We also saw signs advertising they would double your free play from any other casino on the coast. Double free play sounds good to us!

True to the buzz the casino is very nice, bright, and attractive. They also have some fairly good video poker, with 9/6 JOB Progressives at both bars in Quarters, Half's, and Dollars. The only negative we discovered is that free play can't be used on video poker! Bummer. So Chris put her doubled free play through a slot machine. She then played a few hours of video poker and cashed out more than twice her daily bankroll. Finally a winning session! What to do to celebrate? Visit another casino of course!

We had more free play at Hollywood, and Chris had 2 more buffet coupons with line passes. The weather forecast called for a cold evening, so we decided to take a spot in their very nice RV park so we could use our electric heater. I called to reserve a spot (free with a coupon of course) and off we went. We enjoyed dinner, but the gaming result was bad and Chris lost her Island View winnings.

So it's an inauspicious start to our 2008 gambling season but we hope to turn it around soon. We'll be stopping in Tucson for 2 days at Casino Del Sol, then on to Las Vegas for a month. Wish us luck! I'll be sure to report back.

Mac

Date:  Jan 23, 2008

Locations:  Tunica Area Casinos

Contributed by:  Rick & Lucky Lucy

We have been in Tunica for over a week and have stayed at all three (that I know about) casino campgrounds. Here are our observations on each:

The Grand: Nice campground, widely spaced sites but away from everything. They have a nice clubhouse with swimming pool -- not a big factor this time of year. Wi-fi for $12 per day, free coffee in clubhouse. However, there are no sites close to the clubhouse/shower/ laundry facility. This is a problem for anyone with limited mobility. Of course the big negative factor with this campground is the transportation problem getting to the casino. For this reason we will not stay there again.

The Grand casino is presently undergoing a major renovation. They will completely redo the entire casino and rename it Harrah's. The Grand name will be dropped altogether. Of significant interest, Paula Dean, the TV cook show chef from Savannah, will endorse the new buffet and add some of her signature dishes. We are optimistic this move will improve the buffet -- it certainly needs improvement.

Sam's Town: The cheapest of the three -- and I mean cheap as well as inexpensive -- has decent sites but they are pretty close together. We were able to get close to the bath house. Security also provides shuttle service to the casino and come fairly quickly when called. House cleaning for the bath house and rest rooms are almost non-existent. At 3:30 PM they still had not been cleaned and were filthy, the rest rooms were out of toilet paper and paper towels, and trash had not been picked up. I mentioned to the clerk there was no toilet paper and she went into a tirade about the rotten campers stealing the paper. She stated she personally placed two rolls of TP in the bathrooms that very morning. There are 199 camping sites with about 75% occupancy. Let's see, 300 people, two rolls of TP. Yep, someone is definitely stealing it. We won't stay here again either.

Hollywood: A couple bucks a day more expensive than Sam's Town but well worth it. They provide free coffee and a free newspaper each morning (including the Sunday paper). The bath house has been recently remodeled and is in excellent shape -- also clean. The casino hotel is in easy walking distance where we find a good wi-fi signal (also in hotel parking lot). There is a coffee machine near the hotel front desk that dispenses cappuccino, latte, espresso, and other coffee choices in both real and decaf. It is pleasant to set up the laptop on a convenient table, sip cappuccino, and surf the internet. Almost like an internet cafe only this is all free. One of the major factors for us is the large open field
next to the campground were we can walk our dog.

Now for the downside (there always is one). All the Hollywood's video poker is short pay. Since this is our game of choice, this is a real handicap. We did gamble there this trip with predictable results but did get a few free meals and free camping. The Reserve within easy walking distance does have full pay machines so all is not lost. This will be our
campground of choice on future visits to Tunica.

Date:  Jan 21, 2008

Locations:  Various Casinos - Southern California

Contributed by:  Dana

I just returned from a 3 night stay in my motor home at Harrah’s Rincon in Valley Center California.  There are several casinos it a short stretch along hwy 76 and I thought I’d check a couple of them out.  As you come down hwy 76 from the 15, the first one you get to is the Pala Casino Spa Resort.  It looked like a nice place from the highway, but kind of cramped.  I try to avoid getting my 36’ class A into a situation that might be hard to maneuver around.  Plus, I was alone and didn’t have a copilot to help if I got into a bad spot.  I went ahead and skipped Pala for now and kept going till I got to Casino Pauma.
 
Casino Pauma had a nice open parking lot and I could tell immediately that I wouldn’t have any trouble getting in and out.  When I got closer to the lot, there was a sign that said RV Parking with an arrow to the right.  I was pleased to see that they had a full row of RV spots along the edge with an empty field that was perfect for dog walks.  (I didn’t have my dog, but made a note of it anyway)  There was a few RV’s utilizing the RV spots as were quite a few cars.  There was plenty of regular parking so there was no excuse for it.
 
I made my way into the casino and everyone was very nice and friendly.  I walked around a little bit and put a few bucks in their machines.  I then realized that there were no high dollar slots.  I usually play $1 and $5 and sometimes quarters.  Everything seemed to be 1 cent and nickel slots.  The place was a bit on the smaller side.  I decided to continue on to the Harrah’s down the road and see what they had to offer.
 
Harrah’s had a huge parking lot off to one side that seemed to be where the big rigs, buses and RV’s were parked.  There were plenty of spaces and I found an end spot so I could put my slides out and not intrude on another space beside me.  Not that it really mattered; the lot was about 10% full.  I did find it amusing though when a big rig parked two spaces away from me for a night.  Noise doesn’t bother me so it was just kind of funny. 
 
I went into the casino and asked them if it was okay to stay in my RV overnight and they said it was no problem at all.  The casino was much bigger than the previous one and had an excellent assortment of games in all denominations.  I stayed in the parking lot with my jacks down, slides out and generator running at times for 3 nights without any problems.  Although there wasn’t any security present to speak of, I felt perfectly safe.
 
If you’re looking for an RV friendly casino, this is the place to go.