Whirlwind Week - Biloxi and Metropolis 6/11-17

I got some mileage under me last week as my buddy and I made our annual summer pilgrimage to Biloxi from Sunday to Wednesday and then my wife and I drove up to Metropolis from Thursday to Saturday. Here's a few highlights:

While no one likes to be stuck in the car for 5-6 hours, the drive from Atlanta to Biloxi is pretty close to ideal. I've done it enough to have my favorite exits (Newnan or Greenville), and got the timing between the major cities down flat. Of course, we did get the obligatory monsoon once we hit the bridges north of Mobile. (It never fails!)

Checked in to the IP with no problem...standard room pictured below:



We always like to stay at the IP on Sunday night because of the poker room. The Poker Squares promotion tends to attract some fun people and we typically end up playing til 5 or 6 that morning. My buddy hit a boat that qualified for a square and he won a decent pot as well. I flopped trip 8's one hand and checked them to the river where I caught the fourth 8. No callers....just a square.

Unfortunately they never drew our square and the room was pretty stale this year so we called it an "early" night around 2 down a couple hundred.

I didn't play too many slots but did notice IP had added a few since I was there last December: both Monty Python slots, Betty White, Walking Dead 2, Breaking Bad, World of Wonka, Jackpot Jump (I forget what it's actually called), and of course, both Buffalo Grand and Gold.

Checked out the following afternoon (Monday) and moved to Harrah's where we would stay til Wednesday. Again, easy-breezy check-in for a nothing-special room:



And our view:



I had a couple comps to the Scarlet Pearl buffet, so we had lunch there. It wasn't great, but tough to complain when it's free. We mostly played Pai Gow, 3 Card, and High Card Flush with little success. The only hit worth posting was this Buffalo bonus my friend got:



Next day we had lunch at the Blind Tiger, the new restaurant across the street from Harrah's

Biloxi veterans would remember this spot as the Grand Casino.

He got some chicken sandwich that he liked while I got the Royal Reds, which came with spicy sausage, corn, new potatoes, and melted butter. Everything was spot on!



We went to the Blind Tiger just to eat and even tabbed out, but then decided we'd start a new tab.

I always get the Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan when in the area, so I downed six of those while my friend had about 9 Miller Lites.

We tabbed out at 4 just in time for the Diamond Lounge to open. So we made a beeline to the bar and drank smart for the first couple hours...sticking to beer. Then we met this fun couple from Birmingham, started laughing it up and of course, some asshole (could've been me) mentioned shots. Before I know it, we downed 2 Vegas Bombs and 2 Red Snappers in the span of 30 minutes. It gets to be 7:45 and the Diamond Lounge is about to close so someone (definitely not me) brings four shots of tequila. The night gets kinda blurry after that, but I do remember leaving the DL and someone tapping me on the shoulder saying, "Check out ya boy!" I turn and my buddy's still on the couch with his head down and the DL host trying to wake him up. Although I told him I was fine and capable, the host insisted on escorting my buddy to the room himself. I apparently called a friend of ours after we got to the room and he later told me we were pretty destroyed. I woke up the next day with scratches on my arm that I'm still not clear on how they got there. At least we didn't gamble in that condition. It could've got real ugly!

The drive back to Atlanta isn't quite as satisfying since we're usually broke, hungover, and always hit rush hour. This time was no different.

I'll try to post the Metropolis trip tonight.

 

We were in Biloxi 6/15-18 and just now starting to get over the beat down I got.We do love our Biloxi trips but we stay at the Beau because they fly us there, but I think I prefer the IP. Its a great casino imho..

 

The Beau is probably my favorite place to stay in Biloxi but I NEVER win there. The rooms at the Pearl are nice as well, but kinda on the small side. (At least mine was.)

And I agree about the IP casino. The tables are always lively and they stay pretty current with the slot selection. I also like sneaking off to the Cove for some quiet VP and watch whatever game is on.

 

So I got home that night, unpacked, and then repacked for the three day trip starting the next day.

The first stop was Nashville where my wife and I were meeting another couple at Hattie B's before heading to the Ascend Amphitheater to see Third Eye Blind and Silversun Pickups. I never had Nashville Hot Chicken but I love spicy foods. So I ordered the "Damn Hot" which was the 2nd hottest flavor (below Shut the Cluck Up) thinking I'd be ok. Nope, bad idea. I got through half a breast before breaking out in sweats and making several trips to the water tap. The taste was actually pretty good, but it was just a smidgen too hot for my liking.

Not sure if anyone likes either band, but here's a couple pics from the show:



We had great seats, but honestly the venue was small enough to where there wasn't a bad seat in the place. Great acoustics, too! The 10:00 curfew was a bummer though. Isn't Nashville supposed to Music City, USA???

We originally planned on getting a room that night in Nashville but the sticker shock from downtown Nashville hotels led us north to the free rooms of Harrah's Metropolis. I had called earlier that day and the hotel said not to worry, that I'd be allowed to check-in no matter how late I got in. We strolled in around 12:30 and the front desk people were as hospitable as they could be. We were given the 7th (top) floor which is apparently the Luxury Level, tho we couldn't figure out why.

We were pretty beat so we made a quick lap around the casino and went to bed.

We woke up the next morning and checked out our view.

After years of ogling the Eiffel Tower, Fountains, skyscrapers, beaches, mountains, etc from our hotel window, it was kind of bizarre to look out and see Mayberry sprawled in front of us.

Before gambling, we wanted to check out downtown Metropolis, get a picture with Superman, and grab a bite to eat. We tried a local dive called Fat Edd's Roadhouse.



You walk in and order off this extensive menu, then grab a table and wait.



I wanted to try a few things so we ordered a couple kabobs, some peel-n-eat shrimp, and a Philly cheesesteak.

The shrimp were great, the cheesesteak was pretty good, and the kabobs were meh. (Steak was all fat.)

Belly full of grease, we were ready to explore the big city of Metropolis. Here's downtown with the giant Superman statue as well as a memorial to the Vietnam vets:

Thank you!!!

And of course, the Man of Steel:

There's also a museum dedicated to Superman complete with phone booth and car with The Daily Planet on it.

We headed back to the hotel finally ready to hit the slots. The casino is fairly small, about the same size as Harrah's Council Bluffs. They had a handful of tables, but no Pai Gow. If you're looking for new slots, this is not the casino for you. They did have all the Buffalos (who doesn't?) and my wife liked seeing Sons of Anarchy there. They also had the new Monty Python slots, which I quickly swore off. Does it seem like Bally's slots have just way too many blank spins on them?



Harrah's Metropolis does do the stamp thing to avoid multiple tax hits on one patron, so be ready for that in case you ever visit.

My wife wanted to hit the VP bar and play some .25 DDB. The paytable was pretty brutal, but I sat down anyway. $20 into it, I hit this:

Not a bad way to start, but I'd basically be playing on this the rest of the trip and still leave down $100.

Most of my losses can be attributed to High Card Flush. I like the game, but it was a money drain during both trips. When we wanted to take a break, we checked out the Diamond Lounge but it was DEAD. The room was nice enough, but no one was there until the hot apps came out (wings/celery and pimiento cheese/crackers). I never even saw a host in there.



We tried the Fresh buffet with high hopes that it would equal its (kinda) neighbor, Horseshoe Southern Indiana's Spread buffet. Wow, were we disappointed! The buffet was $21.99 and it's top-shelf servings were sirloin steak and grilled salmon. The selection was mostly Southern, but being from the South, that was a bit of a letdown. The best thing I ate was some Italian tortellini soup. So yeah....not too good.

We got up the next morning and lost a little more on slots and decided we had enough so we headed home. Harrah's Metropolis is probably not a destination we'll be in any hurry to re-visit, but if I was in Nashville, I'd make the 2 hour drive again.

My reports always seem to lack chip porn, or even TITO porn. I need to work on that! Anywho, hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!

 

I've learned the chips and TITOs are sometimes a bit camera-shy starting out.
Perhaps start with them in their swimsuits, snap a few pics in some crazy poses, and use humor to break the ice.
Within a few hours they should be ready to go "full-frontal"...

Thanks for the great report!

RICHARD

 

Thanks for the report. Metropolis was the first casino I ever went to. Back when it didnt have a hotel..just shortly after Harrah's took it over from Merv Griffin. TR just sent me a 3 free night 30 folio offer but a 6 hour drive across Ky is too much when HSI is 4 hours closer.

 

How do you like Horseshoe Southern Indiana? We stayed there 2-3 years ago and thought the hotel was great but the casino was a dive. We felt cramped on the floor where most of the tables are, the slot selection was poor, and everywhere we went was extremely smoky. The Spread buffet was among the best we've had though.

 

Sometimes the cssino is just way too crowded for me. Probably my biggest complaint. I gave up long ago trying to get on a table so I generally stick to vp now.
I've yet to try the buffet since they gave Paula Dean the boot, but I will be back there for a couple nights July 5th and most likely eat there.
I'm pretty sure the first floor (where the poker room is) is now non smoking.
I'll try to post a short trip report at the end of next week.

 

We did the Horseshoe southern Ind last year for the 1st time. Spent 2 nights here on a comp. Buffet was great, rooms were nice VP was so so unless you played $1.00 or better, then they had a progressive set which was full pay for 4 or 5 types of games. a 1/4 mile walk from hotel to casino (don't believe that 1 mile jizz). Less of a walk if you take scooter from hotel to food court/parking garage area. Casino is actually on a boat that never leaves dock (4 floors)

WE will be heading to Harrahs Gulf Coast in Mid-August for 3 nights (Mon - Thursday) and possibly a 4th night at either Harrah New Orleans or Tunica Horseshoe (that's confirmed right now for Thursday night, but trying to work out a freebie at Harrahs NOLA). As far as Harrahs Gulf Coast I'm curious as to
A - what kind of quarter VP do they have
B- Craps table limits and any special bets i.e. Firebet
C- Paigow - do they have the side bets?

Would appreciate any similar info on Horseshoe Tunica or Harrahs new Orleans.

Thanks!

 

Enjoyed your TR. We live in Mid Ga and visited Biloxi for the first time earlier this year. Stayed at the Beau Rivage but did a good bit of playing at the IP.

 

Harrah's Gulf Coast isn't great for VP. Here's the breakdown at VPFree2. They have a semi-circle VP bar on one side of the casino and most of the machines feel like they've had one too many cocktails spilled on them. The right half of the bar is .25, the left half is .50 and up. There's also an assortment of VP on the other side of the casino next to the mediocre buffet and Steak & Shake. I haven't played craps at Harrah's in forever and can't recall the limits, but most of the table limits there are pretty soft. The Beau and the Hard Rock tend to have the higher limits in Biloxi. Harrah's does have Fortune Pai-Gow so you'll have the usual fortune bet, but no insurance type offerings.

If you like buffets, the Beau Rivage is the only one I can fully recommend (never tried Hard Rock's though). The Blind Tiger I mentioned earlier was pretty good, but my favorite restaurant in Biloxi is the Half Shell Oyster House. Excellent charbroiled oysters and royal red shrimp!

If you fancy the beach, go down near the Treasure Bay where the water is a lot less murky.

Harrah's New Orleans has become one of my favorite casinos anywhere. Love the hotel and having the French Quarter right outside. Tunica is fun and has more of a gaming variety, but I'd vote New Orleans since you're only 90 miles away. If @NewOrleansSlimm happens to read this, he can tell you all you need to know about the Harrah's there.

 

Nice report @cmani! Looks like Metropolis looks a lot nicer now!

I used to get Southern Pecan a lot at Horseshoe Tunica, but they stopped offering it recently.

@Champster1 as for VP in Tunica, Horseshoe and Roadhouse will both have 9/5 DDB on the floor (as cheap as nickels at Roadhouse). 9/6 DDB for dollars.

Also Roadhouse has a 100-penny progressive with 9/6 JoB. Airport Deuces (98.91%) and 7/5 Super Aces (98.85%) are also on b that unit.

 

I'd love to know the same, particularly for Craps.

Last time I was at Harrahs Metropolis about 4 years ago they had fire bet, and confirmed they still do (via online forums) a little over a year ago. But rumor has it they might (or may already have) switched to All Tall Small since the Harrahs Las Vegas did.

Horseshoe Tunica also had firebet 2 years ago but Gold Strike next door has All Tall Small bet.

Table minimums all are typically $5 but weekends may keep them in the $10 area. Limits are either $2000 or $5000 (low roller like me don't count that high )

All Illinois casinos are smoke free, which is nice.

Thank you to the OP for an amazing TR! I'm just over 2 hours away south of nashville and haven't been to Met or Evansville (or Biloxi!) in about 2 or 3 years and it's killing me!

 

Thanks for the great trip report! I've been to Biloxi a couple of times and enjoyed it. It isn't convenient to me otherwise I may go more often.

I agree with you re: Harrah's in New Orleans.

 

Did the smoke-free change within the last few years in Illinois? I know it was smoke-free last year in Joliet at Harrahs (they had a patio area with heaters, a/c & slots for smoking though), but I swore when we went to Metropolis a couple of years ago that it had smoking in the boat. That bed in our higher level room was AWESOME & entire room was nice - very similar to our rooms at Horseshoe in Tunica. We forgot to check the mattress tag. Both agreed it was a mattress we could really live with. I was disappointed with the Superman statue - for some reason I thought it would be larger. Breakfast at Huddle House. Waitress was right out of the 70's with bleached hair, BRIGHT blue eye-shadow (way brighter than the blue in my dolphin photo image lol) etc.

Love Horseshoe in Tunica, however a 13 hour road-trip doesn't cut it for me. I don't think I have received a junket offer from them since we actually went on our own. I figure they think if I can make it there myself, why offer me a trip.

Heading to Biloxi at end of November.

 

Illinois has been smoke-free for casinos since Jan. 1, 2008, iirc. When I visited Metropolis in early 2009, it definitely was non-smoking.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=095-0017

 

I need to remember to check the tags as well. I never wanted to get out of the bed at the Horseshoe in Bossier City.

Heading back Thanksgiving week as well. Two nights in New Orleans, two nights in Biloxi.