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Any word on possible Iowa casino openings?

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Casino Hotels' started by rdwoodpecker, May 23, 2020.

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  1. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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  2. HoppinHardWays

    HoppinHardWays VIP Whale

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    I hope Harrahs eventually reopens. It’s a property that I’ve always enjoyed.
     
    Labor Day!
  3. HoppinHardWays

    HoppinHardWays VIP Whale

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    Also, I have zero reason to go if table games are closed.
     
    Labor Day!
  4. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    I'm really hoping that Harrah's (and even Prairie Flower) will indeed reopen, as the more gaming options we have here in the area, the better for the player things will be!
     
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  5. HoppinHardWays

    HoppinHardWays VIP Whale

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    If Harrahs does not open then I’ll probably go to Ameristar exclusively when I start going back locally. I always felt like Horseshoe feels dirty when I’ve been there. Maybe it’ll be better under new guidelines.
     
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  6. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    None of them impress me as being particularly clean, and really, that's not only local but casinos everywhere.

    Things like spilled drinks, smoking residue, overflowing trash cans, whatever. All of them do have people trying to clean up 24x7, both on the floor and in the restroom, but with that many people messing things up ...

    Hopefully this will not only encourage the operators to keep things more clean and sanitary, but encourage the gaming patrons to be more aware and conscientious about keeping themselves and the common spaces clean as well.
     
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  7. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    The casinos are supposedly open. Nobody I've spoken to has gone yet, and a couple of folks said to the effect that they would wait until the novelty of reopening is over.

    Many news items have been pushed off, understandably, due to other events, and this is the only casino-reopening item in the major media, covering the very small Prairie Flower. Searches for Horseshoe and Ameristar in the mainstream media come up empty.

    https://www.omaha.com/news/local/prairie-flower-casino-to-reopen-monday-with-masks-temperature-checks-fewer-slot-style-machines/article_3fb2b03d-3659-5e36-983f-5534cb0068b9.html

    Depending on time and circumstance, I'll try to drop by Ameristar and maybe Horseshoe over lunch later this week and if I do, I'll report what it's like.
     
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  8. addicted

    addicted High-Roller

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    Got this email from horseshoe today. Table games not open. Mentions working on a plan to open Harrah's
     

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  9. Feedyourhead

    Feedyourhead Low-Roller

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    So just got back from Diamond Jo Worth. I didn’t take pictures because the only thing different was plexiglass up on the tables. No craps, still trying to get that through regulations or something. Some machines were off but then there were tons of whole rows of slots where not a single machine was off?
    They had hand sanitizer and were offering masks at the doorway, but they were not required. I did see a lot of staff walking around wiping down machines and all the staff was masked.
    Blackjack was $10 a hand.
    The electronic roulette table had 2 seats turned off.
    Building capacity was 500 something people, maybe 536?And they were keeping count at the door. It was actually pretty busy for a Wednesday morning lol.

    As far as the machines paying or not, my husband left up $850, and I had no luck at all haha
     
  10. jgates8

    jgates8 VIP Whale

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    So smoking was still allowed? (I’m guessing so since Masks are not required).
     
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  11. Feedyourhead

    Feedyourhead Low-Roller

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    Yes, and they were still walking around with drinks and had drink stations open too.
     
  12. jgates8

    jgates8 VIP Whale

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    The drink stations are what I don’t find logic in closing. The customer is taking a clean cup from a dispenser each time. The issue would be of course if someone didn’t throw the previous cup they used. But at our casino the little Pepsi disposable cups they give you don’t hold up for a second use lol.
     
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  13. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Okay, here's a quickie report on a quickie trip to the Ameristar I just made before lunch.

    Yeah, the photos, if you can call them that, are disappointing. I wanted to get some photos, but I was understandably shy about obviously pulling out the phone, let alone a Real Camera (tm), so I just wore the Ivy Rec (a "sports" camera) around my neck, set it to record video, and let it run. "Hidden in plain sight." I was not confronted about the camera. :) What I have below are screen caps. Most of the video was totally unusable. :(

    My first inkling that it was not crowded at all was that the parking structure was almost empty. I got a close-up parking spot. Obviously less crowded than a normal weekday morning.

    The first change I noticed was that there are marked "in" and "out" paths to/from the boat, both using the upper ramp that leads right on.

    At the entrance we were ask to drop our masks briefly for a temperature screening, and the security guy pointed to the camera.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Yeah, I realized that they also got a clear face shot of everyone entering, as if they were not doing this before.

    The table games were not in use. Not cordoned off, just unused. There were several signs up saying that the number of gaming machines was limited.

    [​IMG]

    There were no plexiglas partitions. In most rows, every other machine was either blue-screened or else marked as being unavailable.

    [​IMG]

    The chairs at the unavailable machines were not removed.

    Rows of three machines were inconsistent. In some, the middle machine was disabled, in others the two side machines were disabled. I saw one row of four machines where the center two were disabled, and another where it was every other machine.

    [​IMG]

    Masks were optional. I would say that maybe 25% of the guests there were wearing masks.

    The main bar was open for walk-ups, and it will be impossible to socially-distance the wait line. There was one guy in front of me and one behind as I was served.

    I did not stay long. I had not planned to. I just gave them my $20 and split.

    Sorry for the crummy photos. If I am able to this weekend, I'll drop over to the Horseshoe and check it out and try to discreetly get some better photos.
     
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  14. jgates8

    jgates8 VIP Whale

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    @dmr Are they uptight with photos? I've used my cell to take pics at Ameristar, Harrahs & Horseshoe - of good hits, etc. when we have gone there. I have never been questioned on it at all???
     
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  15. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Ok, here's kind of a war story.

    Several months ago I wanted to take some semi-good photos of one of the bands in the Whiskey Roadhouse, so I took a Real Camera (Fuji X-T20) in my bag and walked right in. I pulled it out and was taking a few shots (available light, no flash) standing in that doorway to stage left. A security guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was with the band. I told him no, and he said something like "Well, you're not supposed to be taking pictures, but I don't really care."

    He ran off and I chased him down and asked him what the official policy was. He said that by the book, no photos anywhere in the casino, but he really did not care and he was just doing his job by telling me the rules.

    I've taken photos of the bands before and after that using both real cameras and phone cams and never (again) been confronted. I've seen occasional flashes go off at Whiskey Roadhouse and never seen anyone confronted because of it.

    I've also taken fairly obvious photos of good hits, always with the phone, and never been confronted.

    Ok, then last fall I was at a big photo trade show (Photo Plus) and the guys at the Canon booth were demo-ing their new "sports camera", the Ivy Rec. Officially it's kind of like a Go-Pro or a police body camera, but they were also noting that it was good for discreet "street" shots as it does not look like a camera (or a phone) and you can actually sling it around your neck or clip it to a belt, pocket, or bag, and then appear to nonchalantly look at your phone and compose on the phone and take the shot from the phone. I said WTF and picked one up. It has an overall image quality between that of a typical smart phone and a real camera.

    [​IMG]

    Fast forward to Thursday morning. I had some free time so I figured I would check out the re-opened Ameristar. I wanted to take some photos, for this board and elsewhere, of anything unusual, things like plexiglas partitions between machines or table seats and anything interesting, but I was shy of being obvious and pulling out a big flame-thrower real camera or even a phone and obviously taking shots.

    Then I figured hey, take the Ivy Rec, just set the thing in video mode, turn it on before I went in, and let it roll. It worked, sortakinda, as you can see, but I'm not happy with the photos, so I will try another tack if and when I decide to capture things at That Other Casino I intend to visit. :)

    It was "hidden in plain sight" on a lanyard around my neck, along with a pendant (a silver Shinedown logo pendant) and it was not obvious at all. I figured if I was confronted I would simply apologize and say I forgot I had it on and put it away.

    That night at Whiskey Roadhouse was only the second time I can remember being confronted about photos in a casino. For years I used to keep a list of various casinos, always asking either a "suit" or a uniformed security guy what the policy there was. I would periodically post it on Usenet back in the days. The other place I was confronted was Westward Ho shortly before it closed. The security guy was apologetic, but firm about no photos in the place.

    The last time I remember asking was at Riviera a few weeks before they closed. I asked security and he said ok except don't shoot the cage and avoid anybody actively playing a table game.

    That shoot is on line here if you care: https://omababe.blogspot.com/2015/04/bibi-riv.html

    Oh well, sorry about the digression. I'll try to report on other places if I can get to them.
     
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  16. jgates8

    jgates8 VIP Whale

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    @dmr Thanks - I just wondered if I had totally lucked out or what lol.

    Years ago our local would not allow ANY photos - if they caught you taking a pic you were required to delete it in front of them. As of the last several years there are people continually snapping photos and that signage has been off the doors for many years. One of the Tribals in SE Wisconsin used to take your phone away from you if you even talked on it in the casino. If you refused to give it up, you were escorted out. So obviously pics were a definite no-no also. I refused to go back there after that just because of the principle of it (the security guy was very nice & just told me to go to the ladies restroom to call my husband lol).

    In Vegas I have never been told not to take pics (but also have never taken at table games because I had heard that before also).
     
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  17. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Ok, here's a very underwhelming quickie report on the Horseshoe.

    I stopped there briefly this morning. No photos. Why? Nothing visual that was particularly noteworthy.

    Small crowd (freezer burn, forest lawn, pretty ugly). :)

    Unlike Ameristar, they have moved a lot of machines around. Many machines are turned off, almost at random. In some former banks of four, one is totally removed, one is off, and the two end ones are on. Stools are removed from the off machines, and folks who want to sit together have been moving them, so sometimes you have to find a stool and move it to your machine. Several of the machines I like are still alive. I would say that half of the folks there were wearing masks. There was some smoking going on.

    Lotsa semi-sucky-odds VP, as usual. I did $20 and did not get anything better than 3oak. :(

    Hand sanitizer stations all over the place "Stay calm and sanitize."

    The entrance path was marked with 6 foot circles, but not the exit. I was the only one at the checkpoint. The security guy motioned for me to drop the mask and face the sensor. I was wearing sunglasses, which would (arguably) preclude a FR scan, and he did not ask me to remove them.

    The main bar is open. They have Bud Light. I'm happy!

    Everything south of the high-limit slots and the Laurel Lounge (or is it the Yanni Lounge?) is employees only, meaning the restaurants are closed. The buffet is open as a sit-down place with a very very limited menu. Basic breakfast stuff and sandwiches and such. It looked mostly empty.

    That's about it. The good news is that it's open again, sortakinda. The bad news is that it seemed very "Meh", which will hopefully improve.
     
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  18. jgates8

    jgates8 VIP Whale

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    Fingers crossed it will.

    If I didn’t mention it earlier Harrahs looks like it is taking reservations as of 7/2. I couldn’t get any rooms to come up for Horseshoe affiliated hotels- but normally would have had to book about 4 months out to stay there.
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2020
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  19. pjpeck

    pjpeck Tourist

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    Visited Riverside Resort and Casino near Riverside, IA, late Sunday evening (our preferred time, less busy, less smoky). Seemed about normally busy for that time of night. Plastic shields between some slot machines, in other areas machines out of service, sometimes every other one, other times middle two out of row of four. Seemingly at random. Blackjack tables had only three seats each. Didn't notice the minimums. Self service soft drink and coffee stations in service, with signs reminding you to take a new cup each trip. We wore masks, my wife and I are in a higher risk group, but only about half the customers were also. All employees wearing masks. We were not asked to "flash" our faces on the way in. Snack bar and coffee shop outside the casino area were open, with reduced seating.

    We were glad to get a night out gaming, the restrictions were not too stifling. As usual at Riverside, didn't win anything! Hope that Jumer's in Rock Island will reopen soon. We enjoy the no smoking casino there.
     
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  20. Tank45

    Tank45 High-Roller

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    Thanks for writing this up about Riverside, my local too. We’re there many people smoking? More or less than usual per capita?

    Thanks!
     
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