No Indian casinos for me

I don’t know what Native Casinos comp regarding liquor but think that any casino other than those clustered casinos catering to out of towners, should be greatly concerned if a newspaper headline would ever read, “Drunk Casino Player Kills Family of Four Headed To Disney”. I believe that it would be the end of all Florida casinos, not because it doesn’t happen otherwise but because the State is skittish in allowing gambling to begin with.

I recall the comments regarding the lack of comped drinks but think the Hard Rock here has found a good solution. Several weeks ago, HR gave away something like 8,000 bagged bottles of Absolut, a week later the same number of Belvedere. Next week, it’s Patron Silver. Drinking these giveaways on premises is not permitted. Otherwise, those people who play there regularly know how to get a free drink. College students and sightseers need not apply. LOL

 

I don't mind Mohegan Sun because I low roll it there. I take advantage of the free $10 they offer me to visit. I drink my one beer per 10 minutes, I slow play the VP machine. Generally speaking, I spend about $90, including food and leave the casino 10-12 hours later. It's fun not having to play for comps and just enjoying the day. Frankly $9/hour for entertainment is actually pretty incredible. Plus they have free concerts. But, if you're going for gambling...I would avoid them like everyone else has mentioned

 

If they comped drinks in Milwaukee, the craps tables would be four deep with players betting $5 on the pass line.

The Tavern League in this state would never allow it.

Edit for emphasis: There would still be a Sic Bo table -- it had a $1 minimum.

 

The comping of drinks is the issue I have primarily prohibiting me from hitting Indian or other casinos frankly not in NJ or NV (where I gamble). I used to hit the Maryland casinos often, and Harrah's Cherokee when I lived in NC, but after incessant losing, and a lack of comps, I find it more fun saving my money for Vegas an AC. In a bit or irony, now that I stopped gambling at locals, I seem to have better luck in Vegas and AC too. I love casinos and gambling but the constant losing and no return in comps, after a while, finally forced me to stop wasting my money there. Also, I found myself just not having fun at those casinos either.

 

There's a Empire City casino a couple of miles away from me and I avoid it. Part of the fun of a casino is the drive to there. Hence why AC and Vegas are my go-tos

 

I play VP at several Indian joints in OK. I always have wondered, are the casinos regulated by a state gambling board, like other states? They are technically not "part of the state," if you will, so I've always doubted if they were regulated.

So, does this mean that VP machines, paytables not withstanding, will not pay out at the normal rates?

 

In my state you can't get comped drinks at any casino - in my experience this is only a Vegas thing.

Liquor license and laws in the area may have something to do with it.

 

No it's not just Vegas.
In some casinos I visited outside US, they even have very fancy & high end liquors, all free, whether you gamble or not,
and decent food on the casino floor (think of Diamond lounge but on the casino floor for everyone to enjoy).

 

Don't drink so I don't care.

I like to visit my locals. They do have beverage stations so I can have all the pop, juice, coffee, etc., that I want. I notice no real difference in the amount of play I get. They have free shuttles if I don't feel like driving. Both have buffets with Dungeness crab on seafood night. That's a big deal to me. Lodging is free (RV) if I choose to stay and I can be home in less than 2 hours. I enjoy Vegas, but nothing wrong with locals. I'd miss them a great deal if they weren't here.

The good stuff from two weeks ago.

 

I am in texas and we have a casino in Eagle Pass Texas, Kickapoo lucky eagle. The comps are not that great but we at least get a free room, and I can usually play all night and come home up about a hundred or so. I also enjoy going to Winstar and Choctaw in OK, I have lost alot but have also won (5k is the biggest jackpot) and get free room and food for the weekend. Sadly i have never won in Vegas.

 

Casinos in Shreveport and Bossier City Louisiana comp drinks. I actually like that they have carts that they push around that they make the drinks from and also keep ice cold beer. I don't think you even have to be gambling to get a drink from them.

Mark

 

Lumping all Native casinos in as "Indian Casinos" is like lumping all Nevada casinos in as :Vegas Casinos". It just isn't fair.

I have been to Native casinos in Wisconsin that were just tiny and sad. Outhouses with slots. I play at a Native casino near Chicago called Four Winds. Its big, bright, beautiful rooms, great pool, a Hard Rock, all types of dining, great comps and as close to Vegas as we can get in Chicago.

I wouldn't strike them all down with the same sword, that would be like saying all Strip Casinos are a dump, you know this as a fact since you once played in Casino Royale.

The only thing that throws me off about Native joints, is the fact that most of them do not have to report their holds. With that said, competition keeps those that have to deal with that honest. My Four Winds is 10 miles away from a Boyd casino (Blue Chip) and I pass by 5 other casinos from my house before I get to them (Rivers, Horseshoe , Ameri-Star, Majestic Star & Blue Chip). I assume that tends to keep them honest. If they fleece you, you have other choices.

The joints I am wary of, are those all alone somewhere. They have a captive audience and it is pretty easy for them to get greedy. I got sucked into this at a Ho Chunk near the Wisconsin Dells. They feed off the tourists, and have zero competition near them. That place had everything this original post pointed out. High holds, garbage comps and just a general feeling of sadness playing there. But if you have the itch!

 

My only complaint lately with Potawatomi is that on weeknights, it is becoming "rare" for a $5 Craps table. Usually by 6:30 they are all bumped up to $10.00. That I have noticed over the past 6 months or so............

I was also shocked when one weekday morning I requested a glass of orange juice. The waitress asked for $3.00. When she saw my shocked look, she told me the "comp" beverages are only tap water and fountain drinks.........I was like "really"????? I guess I never ordered OJ before since I am at the "Pot" maybe 2-3 times a month!

 

Considering no competition, Ho Chunk Winconsin Dells has surprisingly good VP offerings. On par with Four Winds and better than state regulated Horseshit Hammond. Hell, even better VP than Blue Chip. HoChunk even offered 3:2 electronic BJ for as cheap as $2. So unless they are breaking the laws, they aren't fleecing players with these games at least. They very well may have shit comps thanks to the lack of competition though.

We stayed at HoChunk for a night last month because the waterparks were outrageous for spring break and we didn't want to share a room with M's cousin. The hotel and pool area was much nicer than I expected. We'd stay there again in a pinch.

 

Yep, it seems like they're handing out bottles of booze every week. I've picked up more liquor that I 're-gift' than I drink. I did ask the attendant if we could pop these open and sip them as we while away the hours. No one behind the kiosk had the answer! But I can see where "No...it doesn't work like that." would be forthcoming.

 

Do you know their slot holds? No one does. That is the magic! Video Poker only comes in so many varieties. Its not like they can order a Game King that has an 85% return on it. Slots, on the other hand... I got a card during my visit. Ran about $3K through various slots, took about an hour to do so. Cost me about $600 to do so. I got offers, of a discounted night and $15 in free play.

I'm not posting because I'm salty. I'm just using them as a good example of why so many people say the say things, just like many in this thread, about their Injun casinos. Captive audience + no other choices + addicts = fleecing opportunity. Hell, the Seminoles have the entire state of Florida on lock down with this method! Over $2.5BIL in gaming wins a year. They have sole control in the state, and if you know anyone that plays there, they will tell you the casino sure feels like it.

 

Mohegan is the only casino I know of that makes it a point to post the picture (and check) of the individual who won a jackpot. I think this is done intentionally to mislead people into thinking they provide the highest payouts / win ratios. These guys are pretty smart at getting people to be okay with losing their money on the slots. It's pretty impressive

 

Yes, but to me it's interesting that they offer okay video poker, even at low limits. They offer 8/5 DDB (96.79%) for 10 nickels. If they are just looking to offer shit holds and not care at all, then they should be offering 6/5 DDB (94.66%) for nickels and 6 to 5 video blackjack.

As for your personal experience, I expect a few things happened.

1) You ran bad. Although a $600 loss in $3000 coin-in isn't the worst session I have ever read of course.

2) They likely judge comps on theoretical loss only. So when you run bad, you will hardly get anything for the actual loss you incurred. This is also tied into the next point.

3) Because of lack of competition, they are likely stingy on comps in general. Let's say theoretical hold is 10% there as an estimate. If so, you would have been expected to lose $300. And in many casinos, that means about $100 or so in comps. That should have been enough for at least free weeknights, especially if you were a new member. We paid about $80 for the room on hotels.com.

Point 3 is probably the biggest problem with places like these.

 

Funny you mention them.

Foxwoods and Mohegan actually report results to the state.

https://portal.ct.gov/DCP/Gaming-Division/Gaming/Gaming-Revenue-and-Statistics

Foxwoods (PDF)
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DCP/GAMING/pdfs/Fosltweb-pdf.pdf?la=en

Mohegan (PDF)
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DCP/GAMING/pdfs/Mosltweb-pdf.pdf?la=en

This fiscal year, the holds are within 0.07% of each other.

 

Spent my first gambling $$ ever in an Indian casino last week. We stayed the night at one in Oregon during our road trip through the state. Had a few extra $$ on me, so after dinner sat down at the HL BJ table. Mind you, $25 table with a $300 max bet! so again, easy to lose, but you can't win a lot as they limit their exposure. Bought in for $1500, caught a good run of cards, asked the pit boss how many hands I could play, and she said 3 @ $300 ea. So I did that, caught a mini rush, and was $4500 up after about 15 minutes. Cashed out, went to the cage, and the guy there had a look of horror like he had never seen that many chips before at one time during a cash out. I probably believe that as it was a good 15-20 minutes of various Supervisor's signing off, etc, etc.

Anyway, as posted early in the thread, I really don't like the fact that you can lose all you want, but no way to really take them for a bunch with such low max bets.....................