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Any casinos near Chicago?

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JewishGambler

JewishGambler

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There's a strong chance I will be going to Chicago in June for a few days and was curious if there are any casinos in that area. Never been to Illinois. Also curious if any places there are affiliated with any places in Vegas. I will probably be staying in the Rosemont area if that helps. Thanks!
 
Risemont is close to River's in Des Plaines. Haven't been there so i can't comment on it but generally, since Illinois only allows 1200 gaming positions, all the casinos are on the small side. Harrah's has locations in Joliet and in Hammond, In. Hollywood has locations in Joliet and Aurora. That's the parent company of M Resort and the Trop. MGM owns a casino here that is not part of M Life. You would need a car and a ride on the tollway to access any of them.
 

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Here's my opinion on a few of the Chicago area casinos.

Grand Victoria, Elgin. Lack of very many low-limit machines. Not as bad as 10 years ago, but not good. It's a good 1/2 hour drive from Chicago, assuming no traffic, which is rare! :)

Rivers Casino, Des Plaines. To say this one sucks is to compliment it! TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT machines! It's the only game in the immediate area, no competition. They did have a free shuttle from the Rosemont El station.

Horseshoe Hammond. Best of the bunch, in my not so humble opinion. Good selection of lower-limit slots and VP. HUGE gaming floor. Free shuttle from downtown Hyatt Regency.

I've also been to two of them in the Joliet area but I can't even remember the names for sure. :)
 
Rivers is always crowded and has the reputation of being very tight.

I've been to Rivers three times. Last visit hit 2 handpays playing the multi-denomination Wheel of Fortune in High-limit. I think I was playing the $5 denom, 3 credits, hit the spin and spun for 400 credits or $2k. Did the same thing on the machine next to it about an hour later.

Always hate leaving Rivers because it's always congested if you're getting back on the expressways.
 
Just to throw in my 2 cents, there is Blue Chip in Michigan City, Indiana. It is a Boyd property. But it is a bit of a drive from where you will be. You would have to drive all the way around Chicago and Gary to get to it. It sucks that the one casino that is the closest is one that is not worth the time to drive by (Rivers). I would avoid Grand Victoria. The 3 times I have been there have been a waste of time.
 

I'm sure I told this story before. I did Rivers shortly after it opened and it will probably be my last trip there. I was in (downtown) Chicago at a conference and I was kinda excited about an option conveniently located. I made an excuse to skip out on the evening festivities and took the train out and caught the shuttle! NEVER had I seen $20s go that fast! Really! I left much earlier than I expected and caught up with the gang.

Now I had a great time at Horseshoe Hammond! They had a free shuttle from the Hyatt Regency so I said what the {heck}. No real formality, just had to show your TR card. They had a great selection of the machines I like and I did fairly well. LOL, they did warn you about missing the last shuttle back, as it would have been a very spendy taxi ride back to the city! :)
 
dmr said:
Grand Victoria, Elgin. Lack of very many low-limit machines. Not as bad as 10 years ago, but not good. It's a good 1/2 hour drive from Chicago, assuming no traffic, which is rare! :)

Rivers Casino, Des Plaines. To say this one sucks is to compliment it! TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT machines! It's the only game in the immediate area, no competition. They did have a free shuttle from the Rosemont El station.

Horseshoe Hammond. Best of the bunch, in my not so humble opinion. Good selection of lower-limit slots and VP. HUGE gaming floor. Free shuttle from downtown Hyatt Regency.

I've also been to two of them in the Joliet area but I can't even remember the names for sure. :)
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bluesdude said:
Just to throw in my 2 cents, there is Blue Chip in Michigan City, Indiana. It is a Boyd property. But it is a bit of a drive from where you will be. You would have to drive all the way around Chicago and Gary to get to it. It sucks that the one casino that is the closest is one that is not worth the time to drive by (Rivers). I would avoid Grand Victoria. The 3 times I have been there have been a waste of time.
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I'm a Chicago local. I agree 100% with everything above. Rivers is a sad joke of a casino. Its not a resort, no spa no hotel no pool no nothing. They dont even play music in the casino. Some places to eat and a very small tight slot assortment. If you HAVE to gamble, and you dont have a car, this is where you will go. Nearly all of their penny machines are really 2 cent machines. So all of the bet levels are pretty much double what a penny machine would be.

Grand Vic, Harrahs Joliet & Hollywood not worth your drive. Its been posted already, but Illinois casinos are just glorified riverboats and capped at 1200 total stations. If they have 10 black jack tables thats 10 X 5 stations =50. They can only have 1150 slot machines.

Close to the city and a real casino "feel" is Harrahs in Hammond Indiana. IN does not have the same silly rules as IL. If you have a day to kill, and a car, straight down I94 from Chicago gets you to Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo MI. That is what we have that is as close to a Las Vegas experiance as you will find. Big hotel with great rooms, huge casino with every slot you'd want to play. High end dining, low end dining, big buffet, a Hard Rock cafe, a pool the works.

If you wont drive they do have shuttle buses that will take you out there.By car its an hour from downtown Chicago, unless you leave during rush hour. By buss its about 90 minutes.
 
I went to rivers in August and did fairly well playing BJ. Turned 10x on my initial investment in about a half hour and then walked away. Remember always getting dealt a 12 too...Craps table was ok, but only had one opened on the Thursday night I was there.

Can't comment on slots as I don't play.
 
I live about 8 miles from the three closest casinos to me (Horseshoe in Hammond In., Ameristar in East Chicago, In. and Majestic in Gary, In.) and don't care for any of them except maybe sometimes Horseshoe just because of the short drive and time limitations. I would much rather travel 45 minutes east of the Indiana/Illinois border to go to Blue Chip in Michigan City, In.. Blue Chip is a B-connected casino with ties to all the Vegas B-connected casinos. If you go about 10 more minutes east of Michigan City you will come upon Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Mi. which is an Indian casino. I have been to River's Casino near Rosemont, Il. one time and will never go back (too small, too tight and not very comfortable). I've only been to Harrah's in Joliet, Il. once and had an OK time there.
 
Grid, I didnt mention Four Winds because I thought Blue Chip was far and that was getting even further of a drive. I am glad you did mention it though! Thanks for that. Also I agree with your eval of Four Winds. Worth the drive!
 

bluesdude said:
Grid, I didnt mention Four Winds because I thought Blue Chip was far and that was getting even further of a drive. I am glad you did mention it though! Thanks for that. Also I agree with your eval of Four Winds. Worth the drive!
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I hear ya! To a tourist, 4W is actually easier to get to. Straight shot down I94. Get off at Exit 1 (as soon as you cross into MI). Hang a left at the 1st light and you are right at the entrance. If you are feeling froggy Blue Chip is only 10 miles down the road and a straight shot down US12. Its like a 15 minute drive between the 2.

I'm sure you know all of this, but for OP or anyone that stumbles into this thread its good stuff.

On that note, here is how i break down a casino weekend as a local. I'll drive out Friday after work and actually pay the toll for I90 (VS free I94) and cruise past traffic using the skyway. I'll get to Blue chip in about an hour. Eat, play, maybe hit their pool & sleep there (very easy to get comps for a free but their free play is bunk).

Wake up in the morning and head over to the Lighthouse Outlet Mall so the wife can get her shop on. You can easily spend 3 hours here if its your 1st time. Its outdoors, so this is more of a summer event. If I have my kids in tow we will also hit the beach, which is very nice and clean. the dunes are fun and if you really want to fill in the day they have a cute little zoo (washington park zoo).

That's enough time in between checking out of BC and checking in to 4W. I'll stay at 4 Winds the next night, eat, play, maybe hit their pool & sleep there. If we want to get out and do something, downtown new Buffalo is very cute. Old fashion ice cream shops, antique shopping, unique little mom and pops stores + yet another big beach with sand dunes. There is also a decent railroad museum with working trains about 10 minutes from the casino. And plenty of Antiquity shopping along route 12.

head home on Sunday and its a full weekend!
 
Grid said:
I hear ya! To a tourist, 4W is actually easier to get to. Straight shot down I94. Get off at Exit 1 (as soon as you cross into MI). Hang a left at the 1st light and you are right at the entrance. If you are feeling froggy Blue Chip is only 10 miles down the road and a straight shot down US12. Its like a 15 minute drive between the 2.

I'm sure you know all of this, but for OP or anyone that stumbles into this thread its good stuff.

On that note, here is how i break down a casino weekend as a local. I'll drive out Friday after work and actually pay the toll for I90 (VS free I94) and cruise past traffic using the skyway. I'll get to Blue chip in about an hour. Eat, play, maybe hit their pool & sleep there (very easy to get comps for a free but their free play is bunk).

Wake up in the morning and head over to the Lighthouse Outlet Mall so the wife can get her shop on. You can easily spend 3 hours here if its your 1st time. Its outdoors, so this is more of a summer event. If I have my kids in tow we will also hit the beach, which is very nice and clean. the dunes are fun and if you really want to fill in the day they have a cute little zoo (washington park zoo).

That's enough time in between checking out of BC and checking in to 4W. I'll stay at 4 Winds the next night, eat, play, maybe hit their pool & sleep there. If we want to get out and do something, downtown new Buffalo is very cute. Old fashion ice cream shops, antique shopping, unique little mom and pops stores + yet another big beach with sand dunes. There is also a decent railroad museum with working trains about 10 minutes from the casino. And plenty of Antiquity shopping along route 12.

head home on Sunday and its a full weekend!
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Ha yea New Buffalo...Nice to eat at Stray dogs or have ice cream at Oinks which carries Sherman ice cream. Or drive down 3 more miles on red arrow highway and eat at Skips for the best prime rib..I live here between Blue chip and four winds during winter 30 east Huron Chicago in summer. The one thing I hate about New Buffalo beach is ya can't drink on it. Michigan city Beach ya can. Anyways I'm a copper card holder at Four winds and a onyx at Blue chip and believe me the comps are comparable....Visit them both you will have fun



s
 
For those that want to go to either Blue Chip or Four Winds and don't have cars, all is not lost. The South Shore has decent train service between Michigan City and Chicago, and it would be a short Uber ride from the MC station to the Blue Chip. Amtrak runs a couple of trains a day from Chicago to New Buffalo, and again it is a short Urber ride from New Buffalo to the Four Winds.

http://www.mysouthshoreline.com

That being said, I am really not a Blue Chip fan. It is too small and smokey for my tastes, the food options suck, and a Boyd connection does nothing for me. I prefer the Four Winds.
 
gilly from philly said:
For those that want to go to either Blue Chip or Four Winds and don't have cars, all is not lost. The South Shore has train decent service between Michigan City and Chicago, and it would be a short Uber ride from the MC station to the Blue Chip. Amtrak runs a couple of trains a day from Chicago to New Buffalo, and again it is a short Urber ride from New Buffalo to the Four Winds.

http://www.mysouthshoreline.com
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Yes nice tip
 
One more option for you OP, is to head up to Potawatomi in Milwaukee. It is about a 1.5 hr drive due north from where you will be. Not sure how others feel about this casino, but we go there about every 6-8 weeks.
 

dmr said:
So? How is the Ameristar in East Chicago?
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I fall in and out of love with it all the time. I stopped going after they changed owners but currently it's one of my regulars. IMO its the best local casino buffet of all the ones I've tried. I like their other dining outlets too but still haven't tried their steakhouse. It's a big riverboat and they try to keep the newest games on the floor. I felt they got tight for a while but it seems better in that department. The hotel has always been a delight even going back to when it was a Harrah's and it's part of the reason I never completely quit them.

I didn't mention the Indiana casinos in my original post because it wasn't that clear that the OP was willing to go that way, but I spend a lot of time at Ameristar and Majestic Star. I don't encourage Majestic Star a lot because it is feels low end but the current ownership is slowly investing in the place. For a slot player, it's been a place where a gambling budget lasts well but I don't like their food outlets and I have no clue if that hotel has been touched since it's been opened. I love Blue Chip but I only like to go for overnight stays. It's farther than I want to go for an afternoon. It usually works out that I can only make it out there a handful of times a year.

I don't know why I haven't made it to Four Winds though. We always talk about adding it onto a Blue Chip trip and never make it. And they do have shuttle buses that I've never taken advantage of.
 
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