to my chicago peeps - rivers casino?

Had a 3:00 am pickup on delayed flt at OHare last Tuesday. With time to kill, I checked out Rivers Casino and was wondering - what's up with all the high table game minimums? Mostly $50 and $25 BJ tables. Still, the place was busy.
Maybe I just answered my own question.

 

It's because they 'gotcha' with that location. It's right by O'Hare and the closest casino is over in Elgin.

Nice place inside, but way to high on the minimums. Never had any luck there.

 

I live 10 minutes away by car (can walk there in less than an hour - it's less than 4 miles away), but have never checked it out. From friends and family who have gone, it's typically crowded, more so than Elgin when it was the only north side casino, and minimums are always high on the tables.

I stopped gambling locally in the 1990s, but even if I continued, I'd likely continue play at Horseshoe or Harrah's to get the national comps, vs. Rivers, where the only comps connections are for local pols and their benefactor owners at the feeding trough.

 

I stopped playing at Rivers. The slots are extremely tight. The table minimums are high and unless you are there in the early mornings the place is always packed. The location is great though for those that live in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

 

Ditto toElf

 

Rivers sucks! Been there, done that, very disappointed.

I did enjoy the Horseshoe over in Indiana, however.

 

The best part about the casino is that it is smoke-free. At least I am not breathing in all of that second-hand smoke while I circle the tables for hours waiting for an empty spot.

 

It's in an Ideal location to draw business from the city and the more upscale suburbs to the north and west. Plus it's near a pretty neat entertainment complex and some big convention centers. That being said, I've met a fair number of people who drive past it to go south into Joliet or into Indiana. I don't think I will ever end up visiting there.

 

The Rivers in Pittsburgh is pretty awesome. Crazy packed on game days as it sits right next to PNC/Heinz, although the one odd thing about it is that there is no hotel.

 

It's such an ideal location if you have a few hours to kill before a flight out of ORD or a lengthy layover.

Funny that such a random casino has the highest (or among the highest) publicly offered table max limits.

 

This place has savages playing bacc. Place is packed during the weekends. Takes forever to get id to ente, very inefficient process.

 

Hey you locals!

I was looking to get a VMB meet at the GV (not Rivers) due to what is said in this post.
Look for it later this spring or summer!
https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?114400-Chicago-WI-IN-Locals-Meet-Shout-Out

Yes, they have gotcha, gotcha by the gonads and they squeeze them, hard, real hard...ouch!

RiddickBull: ID'ed...lol what is that...How does that feel? I long for the day to be ID'ed... again...lol
Real estate mogul and chairman of Midwest Gaming & Entertainment Neil Bluhm says the Rivers Casino traveled a long road before opening
I was actually one of the "throngs" in line when this joint opened...http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110725/news/707259959/
What is a throng?
June 2013 - An analysis by GamblingData revealed that Rivers Casino has some of the most lucrative slots and table games in the U.S.
I can only imagine the 2014 numbers!
Rivers took many of the good dealers/pit from all over the Chicagoland area.
It is actually a small casino. No hotel. Decent parking. Shuttle to and from the ORD trams and local hotels
Nice buffet, burger joint, oriental and upscale Hugos restaurant. 1 center bar and Cube lounge/club.
Very liberal with marketing efforts, player rooms at local hotels, match plays, free cruises, free dining for your action.
Nice, updated casino, very clean and well staffed.
Linked to Cosmopolitan in Vegas.
Always busy like a vegas strip casino.
There was early talk of a poker room like it's sister casino in Pittsburgh, to be built out of the smoking area, but with the crazy $$$ this joint makes, that is just a pipe dream
High limit room is small and cramped, a craps table would consume the entire room.
Never had success on the VP...I think BeeJay had or was it the craps table?
Decent success on the dice there.
4 craps tables, 2 short ones are most always $25, other two long ones are typically $15 minimum and that's on slow days.
I've seen a lot of heated action on the craps tables...good stories too.
Many celebs and who's who of what's what
One guy comes in every now and then and plays on his 'reserved craps table' with his entourage of women.
Other days you will see players without a clue how to play, which includes etiquette (is that an oxy moron?) just makes for a slow or bad table
Another yocal plays his 10K like it's gravy, hopping this that and the other, 600 3-way, 1200 hop 8, 1500 field, phucks up the whole game...but
the pit loves him...of course. Reminds me of a dog drooling while on crack. I've played next to this guy several times. I just watch and laugh to myself. I saw him as I was leaving at the cage (trying to get his credit approved for more $$$) I asked him why he doesn't play comes or place the 5/6/8 (iron cross) if he's going to play the field, he just looked at me like I was from outer space and says..."I dunno". Yep, that was a given!

Any weekend, event, holiday, give-a-way, one can expect $25 minimum tables and they all have waiting players...
Every single time I have been in there I tell the pit critters they need 2 additional tables. They agree. I mention they could take out some of those slot machines and put in 2 more and of course they...
Stare at me and shake their head like I'm from outer space...
On the border of Rosemont, which is known for huge convention business and of course...more patrons
In other words, like prior posts, location, location, location = gold mine.
Location in this scenario equates to busy, O'Hare, Chicagoland, expressway thouroughfares to WI, IN.
This joint is in close proximity to us. Closer than Grand Victoria.
If I go it's on off times when it is not so busy, mornings etc.
There was one rare day that the $25 tables were $5...suprised the heck out of me, it did not seem that slow.

Hmmm, seems like I know a lot about this place hmmmmm, Sherlock....

 

I don't remember any ID check at the door. I just walked in. Of course I could not pass for under 21 if my life depended on it!