Tuesday, April 12, 2005

I attended the Padres game Saturday night, my first trip to Petco Park. I was a guest of Valley View Casino, viewing the game from their suite. Which meant to go to the game downtown, I had to leave my home in La Mesa and go to Escondido, and let them shuttle be to the stadium and back, which meant I'd be doing a lot of sitting in cars. So we had to leave around 2:00 for the 7:05 game. First we swung by Harrah's, where I had a coupon for $30 in slot play, which I quickly cashed out at $50, and left. I didn't give them much action, which is okay, they still send me good offers after I periodically stiff them, and when I do give them heavy action, my offers don't really noticably improve (they don't reward their table players very well--one reason I'm dreading their takeover of Caesars).

When I arrived at Valley View, I tried to ascertain where exactly I checked in for the Padres game, but no one seemed to know. Someone sent me to the special events center, but there was only a gruff security guard there, who wasn't much help. Eventually, someone was able to tell me I just had to check in right on the bus, around 4:15-4:30. So I gambled for thirty minutes or so, won a small amount of money, and then went to find the bus. The driver confirmed we were at the right place, and we got on the bus to wait. The whole thing was poorly executed, as we were told very little, and the bus ended up leaving at 5:00, so they could have gotten another 40 minutes or so of gambling out of me, if they'd better informed us of what was going on. It was fine by me, kept me from losing money, and I had already understood the day would involve lots of time on a bus. But it seems poor planning on their part, given their own best interests. It was also odd that our escorts for the evening weren't casino hosts, but rather just employees who wanted to see the game. They were good people, though. The drive to Petco Park wasn't bad at all, it only took an hour or so, and we were there.

This was my first visit to Petco Park, and I was adequately impressed with the facility. Not a great deal of charm, necessarily, but at least it's more personable than the old stadium. The cheap seats look pretty crappy, but the park seating doesn't seem like a bad deal. $5 gets you standing-room admission, and the mound behind center field offers a decent view. For families, especially, it's a decent deal. I'd do that rather than pay double or triple that for the cheaper seats in the stadium.

But of course, I didn't have to make such decisions, because I had access to a suite. Valley View's premiere suite is on the plaza level, just behind home place, on the first base side. It looked to be about the nicest suite besides the owner's (I assume that is his immediately behind home plate). The view of the game is phenomenal. Looking in the fridge, there was beer and wine, and mixers, so I figured their must be liquor somewhere, but didn't see any. But I started looking for a corkscrew for the wine, and in the process, discovered a well-stocked liquor cabinet. So I mixed myself a screwdriver and got some food. I was excited about the prospect of the skybox food, but was a bit disappointed. They had chicken and beef kabobs, which weren't bad, but which were a bit cold. The chicken breasts were also cold, and almost inedible. So that was disappointing, but they did have the traditional ballpark food, which wasn't bad. Hot dogs and polish sausage, cracker jacks. I got my fill mostly by chowing down on the chips and seven-layer dip (much better than nachos). So if I was a bit disappointed, I didn't go hungry. And when you consider ballpark prices, I really ate like a king (I later learned my ticket would have given me access to the Omni Hotel Premiere Club, which looked to have good food, though that food isn't complimentary). The nicest aspect of watching the game from the suite, though, was something very dear to my heart--a private restroom. No more peeing in a trough for me (I never went in the public restrooms, but I sincerely hope the trough is no longer a staple of stadium men's room design). An especially nice enhancement to the free liquor.

I belive the suite's intended capacity is about 20 people, but the 21 in our group were a bit cramped. I think the problem was everyone was watching the game. I would think in many groups, there are the die-hards out watching the game in the seats, and others lounging on the couch, watching the plasma screen instead. But with everyone outside, it was cramped, and since we were the last to grab seats, we were stuck on stools in the aisle. But it wasn't a bad vantage, anyway. And the game was good, more competitive than the 11-5 final score suggests (probably one of the higher scoring games at Petco). I watched the last few innings from the couch, once the game looked pretty much done. The plasma screen TV really is amazingly clear. It will be exciting when they are more affordable. After the game, we ran up to the third level to watch the fireworks, which were pretty good. But apparently no one else cared, because they were all on the bus, waiting for us. Serves them right, for hogging the best seats. The drive back wasn't bad, either, we got back just after 11:00. I gambled, lost a bit and won it back, and ended up leaving a modest winner, after playing with one of the worst blackjack players I've seen. He'd hit a hard seventeen against a three, but stay on twelve against a ten. No reason to it. But no matter. I won some cash, saw a good baseball game, and had a more luxurious experience than I'm used to at sporting events. Valley View seems aware of their limitations compared to the more swank casinos around town, and seems to do a good job compensating, with a fabulous buffet, good comps, and unique experiences like their skybox. I didn't gamble a great deal (mostly because the game took so much time, and they had me stuck on the bus so long before we left), but I hopefully played enough that they'll still send me invites to events like this one.

No comments: