My sister FL Kathy, her husband, Mom and I went to Harrahs NOLA and the Beau Rivage to celebrate Kathys birthday. It was another losing trip for me, but as usual, I had a fun time.
We left early Thursday and the drive to New Orleans took just under 4 hours. It did rain most of our way over. After finding Harrahs parking garage, we went to the hotel check-in. The Harrah's Casino Hotel is beautiful. Both of us got very nice suites with a King bed and a pull out sofa bed. Because this was Kathys actual birthday, I gave her a crown to wear that said Over the Hill. She was a champ and wore the crown the entire day. She did get lots of birthday wishes from other casino patrons, as well as a panhandler while she was walking around New Orleans. After we checked in, we ate at Todd Englishs new restaurant called Riche. The food was excellent. We tried a couple of appetizers. Mom and I had Jambalaya with Fried Jumbo Shrimp.
Harrahs casino is huge and it had been several years since I had visited. After walking around a bit, I finally found the video poker section and was in heaven. They had lots of games and most of the DDB pay tables were 9/6. One of my favorite VP games is Super Aces Bonus and they had that game too. I especially enjoyed playing progressives for quarter, fifty cents and dollar levels. I didnt hit any progressives, but I did get one Royal Flush on quarter triple play DDB. That just gave me more to play with, so I stayed up late and gave most of it back to the casino, chasing those progressives.
Friday morning, we drove to Gulfport and ate breakfast at C&G Grille at the Island View. We only played there a little while and I played some penny slots with my free play, since they dont allow you to use free play on video poker.
The VP at the Island View was not good to me on this visit.
We headed over to Biloxi and checked in at the Beau Rivage. My other sister and her husband were coming in later that afternoon, so I got comps for the Coast and we all met there for an early dinner. Afterwards, we all walked over to the Hard Rock since the rain had stopped. I did go to the Players Club and showed my Harrahs Diamond card and they upgraded me to Double Platinum. Im not sure how long Ill get to keep that status, but the benefits sound good. I guess time will tell. I found out that you can't use your free play at the VP machines by the Poker Room. I don't know about the bartop games. I only played at the VP machines outside the Poker Room and found a $1 DDB game that was doing well, with lots of full houses and an occasional 4oaK. Then, I hit 4 Aces with Kicker and got a hand pay.
I was surprised that on a Friday night, the casino did not seem busy. In the VP area, there were only a couple of other people playing. Also, the music was turned down so low that I could barely hear it. I dont know why the casino was practically empty on a Friday night. The Beau was really crowded. I took my winnings from the Hard Rock and gave it to the Beau Rivage as well as some of my own money.
Saturday, we all went to see the new show Y at the Beau. We had great seats in Section 103 and we were so close to the action, that we could see the glitter on the girls faces. I believe this was the best show yet of all the Beau production shows. Much of the show was performed on the floor in the middle of the theater. This show had a mixture of Chinese acrobats and the Russian dancers weve seen at other shows. There was also a silly clown act at the beginning and in the middle that went on a little too long for my liking. The acrobatic acts were amazing and different from others Ive seen. Try raising your leg above your head while balancing a stack of rice bowls on the bottom of your feet, then getting on top of two stacked people.
It was very entertaining and I heard others talking afterwards that they enjoyed this show more than other shows they have seen. I will try to see this show again before it ends its run.
It was a fun trip. Despite a couple of wins, I still ended up a loser for the trip. I couldnt get the VP to cooperate at the Beau Rivage and I spent too much time on Super Times Pay VP. The horse race came up a few times, once for the middle prize, the rest for the lower level prize. My next trip is March 15 with Mom to see the band, Chicago, at the Beau Rivage. We will only stay one night, and maybe I can exercise better money management.
We left early Thursday and the drive to New Orleans took just under 4 hours. It did rain most of our way over. After finding Harrahs parking garage, we went to the hotel check-in. The Harrah's Casino Hotel is beautiful. Both of us got very nice suites with a King bed and a pull out sofa bed. Because this was Kathys actual birthday, I gave her a crown to wear that said Over the Hill. She was a champ and wore the crown the entire day. She did get lots of birthday wishes from other casino patrons, as well as a panhandler while she was walking around New Orleans. After we checked in, we ate at Todd Englishs new restaurant called Riche. The food was excellent. We tried a couple of appetizers. Mom and I had Jambalaya with Fried Jumbo Shrimp.
Harrahs casino is huge and it had been several years since I had visited. After walking around a bit, I finally found the video poker section and was in heaven. They had lots of games and most of the DDB pay tables were 9/6. One of my favorite VP games is Super Aces Bonus and they had that game too. I especially enjoyed playing progressives for quarter, fifty cents and dollar levels. I didnt hit any progressives, but I did get one Royal Flush on quarter triple play DDB. That just gave me more to play with, so I stayed up late and gave most of it back to the casino, chasing those progressives.
Friday morning, we drove to Gulfport and ate breakfast at C&G Grille at the Island View. We only played there a little while and I played some penny slots with my free play, since they dont allow you to use free play on video poker.
The VP at the Island View was not good to me on this visit. We headed over to Biloxi and checked in at the Beau Rivage. My other sister and her husband were coming in later that afternoon, so I got comps for the Coast and we all met there for an early dinner. Afterwards, we all walked over to the Hard Rock since the rain had stopped. I did go to the Players Club and showed my Harrahs Diamond card and they upgraded me to Double Platinum. Im not sure how long Ill get to keep that status, but the benefits sound good. I guess time will tell. I found out that you can't use your free play at the VP machines by the Poker Room. I don't know about the bartop games. I only played at the VP machines outside the Poker Room and found a $1 DDB game that was doing well, with lots of full houses and an occasional 4oaK. Then, I hit 4 Aces with Kicker and got a hand pay.
I was surprised that on a Friday night, the casino did not seem busy. In the VP area, there were only a couple of other people playing. Also, the music was turned down so low that I could barely hear it. I dont know why the casino was practically empty on a Friday night. The Beau was really crowded. I took my winnings from the Hard Rock and gave it to the Beau Rivage as well as some of my own money. Saturday, we all went to see the new show Y at the Beau. We had great seats in Section 103 and we were so close to the action, that we could see the glitter on the girls faces. I believe this was the best show yet of all the Beau production shows. Much of the show was performed on the floor in the middle of the theater. This show had a mixture of Chinese acrobats and the Russian dancers weve seen at other shows. There was also a silly clown act at the beginning and in the middle that went on a little too long for my liking. The acrobatic acts were amazing and different from others Ive seen. Try raising your leg above your head while balancing a stack of rice bowls on the bottom of your feet, then getting on top of two stacked people.
It was very entertaining and I heard others talking afterwards that they enjoyed this show more than other shows they have seen. I will try to see this show again before it ends its run. It was a fun trip. Despite a couple of wins, I still ended up a loser for the trip. I couldnt get the VP to cooperate at the Beau Rivage and I spent too much time on Super Times Pay VP. The horse race came up a few times, once for the middle prize, the rest for the lower level prize. My next trip is March 15 with Mom to see the band, Chicago, at the Beau Rivage. We will only stay one night, and maybe I can exercise better money management.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR KATHY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
