We love going to this casino – and we will probably always refer to it as Rincon. That is the name we called it for years – and it is so much shorter to say and type!
The corner suites we get in the new tower are spacious and luxurious, with a large patio which is the perfect place to enjoy a room service breakfast while taking in the mountain view on two sides. And a Jacuzzi is always a welcome feature when we need to relax in the evening and loosen up tired shoulder muscles after some hours of play on a video poker machine.
We love the spa. Brad usually only gets a facial, but I go all in – a full body scrub followed by a clay cover treatment, a facial, and then a massage for every muscle that is even thinking about hurting. I come out of there a regular Raggedy Ann, my skin so soft and limbs so relaxed I can barely make it up to our room!
And before I forget it – I was asked after our last trip what was in the small pretty shopping bags 7* players are given when they check in. They are a nice amenity package: 2 bottles of water, 2 bottles of soda (your choice of regular or Diet), and many small packets of snacks (various kinds of nuts and candies and other munchies).
This last trip was a special VIP event organized by our regional host – formerly from the Chicago area, meeting her back when we used to go to the Hammond Horseshoe, but now working out of San Francisco. On Sunday she had arranged for her group (mostly from Chicago but a few “strays” like us) to attend the Pacific Classic at Del Mar Racetrack. We were bussed to the track – an hour-plus ride – and taken to a VIP Suite in the Turf Club, where we were wined (Cokes for us!) and dined for 7 hours while we watched – and bet on – the races. I was getting pretty exhausted by the end of the day, but Brad loved every minute of it, a 30-year throwback to the time before he and I met and racetracks (dog and horse) were his beloved form of gambling.
The dress code for the Turf Club was very strict – all the men had to wear a jacket and women had to “dress up.” Big hats for the ladies was THE style!
Betting was fun although it wasn’t an “advantage” play by any means. My girlfriend who was also in this event and I pooled our money and bet every race – a whopping 11 of them– using a couple tout sheets to be half-way informed. But my strategy was to never bet on the favorites. If I was going to win, I wanted a bigger payoff. At first we would pick long shots and exotic bets, but when that wasn’t getting us any winning tickets, we switched to “medium shots.” That worked out better with some encouraging wins. Brad pulled up some of his old handicapping skills and scored a couple of good hits early on. Then we would ask him for some help and he would give us some “good jockey” advice. Good thing though that the results of the last race didn’t happen early or we would have never gleaned any advice from our “expert.” The girls’ horse beat out Brad’s horse by a nose and caused him to lose one of his bigger bets.
However, the girls lost only $60 of their pool money. And Brad lost only $20. Plenty cheap entertainment for 7 hours!
A highlight of the day was a chance to go down trackside where you could feel the swish of the horses as they raced by right in front of you. Harrah’s was the sponsor of one race and we were invited for this up-close view of it. It’s amazing how much bigger and more powerful the horses look here than on TV or even in the stands.
Needless to say, when the bus ride back to the hotel was over, Brad and I weren’t able to even contemplate sitting up at a video poker machine. We hit the Jacuzzi and then the bed!
When we visit San Diego we usually visit Barona’s. It is more like 30-45 min from downtown. They have treated us very well there and I usually win a little at the Blackjack table.
kevin is just brutally correct on a very very very high percent of his comments. over the years he has made plenty of spot on comments.
Wow, Mr. Lewis. After all the trouble Jean goes to and posts very interesting articles, you sure do seem to be a “Negative Nellie” most of the time. I subscribe to the old axiom my Momma taught me–“if you can’t say something nice, it’s usually better to say nothing at all.”
I would imagine that your experience as an invited, pampered guest was different from that of the average commoner. You drive WAAAAAAY out into the back country north from Escondido–there’s nothing on the way and it’s not on the way TO anything–and then you get to one of the tightest casinos in the universe, where the limits are high and everything is grossly overpriced. I got an offer to stay there for free for two nights and only stayed for one; there was absolutely nothing worth playing and you couldn’t eat for less than $25. As of now, there’s nothing better than 8/5 BP, and almost all the games are MUCH worse than that, so no one who isn’t cashing in a freebie should bother to go there. It’s the typical CET experience: bleed enough and you get offers, which won’t compensate for the blood loss. Come there cold turkey and you’ll get your wallet torched.
Valley View casino nearby has better machines (NSUD), better comps, better mailers, and a better slot club. And for that matter, I would consider being in San Diego and driving over an hour AWAY from the beach to go to a casino to be an almost criminal waste of time. San Diego has a LOT to offer, and all of its casinos are Indian rez joints that are among the stingiest in the country, so I prefer relaxing on the beach or going to Balboa Park and eating seafood and Mexican food to driving out into a sun-scorched wasteland (it’s usually twenty degrees hotter up in the mountains than in SD itself), getting ripped off at the machines/tables, and paying $29.95 (or more) for a mediocre buffet.