MGM National Harbor

We took a short trip to MGMNH for our anniversary. I called and they said they could comp both Fri and Sat night which surprised me a little since our last MGM play was a few hours at Bellagio (while staying at Wynn) and then before that, the Beau Rivage about a year ago. Good call on their part because we got spanked gambling and between gaming, food, booze and valet parking we dropped about $4K. I mean we hit nothing....a few 4OAK's but that's it.

We mostly play VP and $1 BP was the same pay table (7/5) as Wynncore so nothing was worse there....just one of those trips where no good luck was to be found. We'll probably go again but if we get blanked gambling again that might be our last time there. I know it makes no sense but we almost always have decent gambling trips at Wynncore and conversely always get spanked at Bellagio too which is why despite some great offers from them, we never stay there any more. I totally don't understand their point system. We played a lot and barely built up 1000 point between us and at Wynn, we'd have built up about 6000+. That said, all we get at Wynn is a comp'd room too so the only difference is Wynn gives you $60 in FP on that 6000.

Pretty nice property overall with some very good restaurant choices and cool bars. They have a great mix of upscale, casual and quick eats there. The rooms weren't Wynncore quality or size but they were nice....kind of a similar look to the renovated Mirage rooms but with a different bathroom layout. The casino is smoke free which for us, is a plus. Neither of us smoke and smoke irritates the hell out of my contact lenses.

It was a weekend so the casino was busy but we never had a problem finding a place to play. I like to play in the morning and have coffee and there were significantly less drunk and obnoxious people than I'm used to seeing at Wynncore which I'm sure it attributable to all of the nightclubs at Wynncore. Still, it's a locals casino too so you see your share of people probably gambling the grocery money which is never fun.

Easy trip for us....3 hours up I-95, so no airport crap and then sitting on a plane for 6 hours was nice and it's a super easy access on and off of 95.

 

"Good call on their part because we got spanked gambling"

I quoted your above, since I have heard the same from everyone I know that has gone there to play...

 

Yea, I can't say we saw or heard anybody else winning either. I liked the idea of a nice casino that I don't have to fly to and I really have no idea what the state of MD requires for a "pay back percentage" but if they are going to run things that tight.....no use in going. I just attributed it to one of those losing trips but if everyone is saying the same thing, maybe they do have things set for a very low payback.

 

Ive probably gone 6 or 7 times since its opened. Im not a table game player but a slot player. My husband and I came out a head the first 2 times we went, but since then...its been horrible. We cant even get a bonus on a slot machine after several hours betting min or max bets. We keep going hoping things loosen up and because its only 15 minutes away...but may stop if things dont change soon. Dont get me started on their drinks....We go to TAP to get beer to bring in and avoid that center bar like the plague. Its ridiculously expensive, has horrible drinks and customer service.

 

I know that the state law in Maryland says they cant go lower than 87% payback on slots. But after reading how the casino operators in the state where trying to get that regulation all the way down to 85% is very telling. If they can go as low as 87 now, and they want to go even lower. That only tells me that they have their machines already set to the shittiest of payouts.

Sure some high limit games and video poker might push the overall average to 89 or 90. But that's still horrible for a slot player.

 

We both drink whiskey (usually Wild Turkey or Makers Mark) so we brought a bottle and used the 2 glasses they furnish in the room and we'd make very strong drinks filling it with ice and whiskey and a just a splash of ginger ale and head down to the casino. They didn't give us a second look going thru security and into the casino. We like whiskey and water so as the ice melts the drink mellows a bit. Great sipping drink.

Grid - Re; the percentages, that's good information. You're right if they want it lower, you can bet they setting everything as low as legally allowable already. I know luck comes and goes but we've played VP for years now and you just get a feel for how often you should hit a little something and at MGM it was nothing.....something just didn't feel right. I guess they feel they have a captured audience. I'll take Vegas and the plane ride because I can't ever remember going home from Vegas with a 100% loss.

 

I made my second trip to NH Sunday. Table mins were ridiculous again. Craps was all $50 at 630pm. Nothing but 6-5 BJ and all $25 and up. Carny games were also $15+. Ended up playing $25 Pai Gow for a couple of hours and won a couple hundred. The wife hit a couple of small hits on slots so we ended up +$500 for the trip and saw Sting in concert. We ate at Voltaggio Brothers steakhouse and it was fine but nothing special. The Asian restaurant, Ginger, is much better in my opinion.

 

Guess I'll avoid!

 

We ate at Voltaggio Brothers Friday night and I thought it was way over priced for what it was. Way too stuffy for me. We had a lot more fun eating at the bar in Marcus on Saturday night. PGP is my favorite table game. That's amazing table limits were that high on a Sunday night but I suppose the big crowd for Sting had something to do with that... or are they that high every Sunday? No pun intended

 

Glad you got a chance to check it out. Sorry about the losses though. From your report and the other thread, I don't think I'll be visiting this one anytime soon. I'll just keep giving Vegas my time and money.

 

Huge crowds + Huge investment = tight slots.

 

Add me to the list of those who got killed, but thankfully it was only a 20 minute drive. I'm a blackjack player and their rules suck unless you play $50 and above in the Blossom bar or high limit. Even at $50, rules are much worse than the baltimore Horseshoe . It's nice to look at but i won't be going back there anytime soon, if I'm going to lose I'd rather get hammered for free and stay in free rooms in vegas than pay for everything and lose down the road in maryland lol

I know a bartender there also and she said the other day, "nobody wins here". That was all I needed to know, however wish I knew that before I went hahah

 

Thanks for the write up, Dino! Sorry your luck was so shitty.

So, Marcus...any other eateries you'd suggest? Or...should I just keep heading north on 95 and do Borgata if I'm ever inclined to do a non-Vegas degen trip?

 

Hey Carve! Yea gambling sucked but you know how VP can go. Same pay tables as Wynncore so to my knowledge, that's really the only control casino's have over VP is setting the pay table lower. You know me, I'm not a big fancy foodie type so the Steak House was too formal and $$$$. As a reference, we never eat at SW when at Encore. Fish looked like a cool spot and Tapp, the sports bar was a cool place. very big and lots of tables and bar seating. We had lunch there after arriving on Friday. Honestly, the property in general was nicer than I had expected...I liked the feel of it all. Just couldn't get anything going. The only negative that you probably see at any casino outside of the strip in Vegas is locals that appear to be gambling their grocery money....you know, not having fun and then if they hit something they don't even get excited because now they're just down $20K instead of $25K

I'd check it out if I were you. Blossom and the Center Bar have bar top and "all" of the VP on the floor is together in the NE corner past the poker room.

 

A snow day on a Tuesday, now you can see the true hard core gamblers.

 

I've never been there & most likely never will but I get an email a week and lately a monthly mailer from them. Meanwhile, id love some attention from Mlife Vegas but the only current offers I have are from mirage.

 

Well Dino, at the outset of this thread, I was going to congratulate you on finding an option much closer to home. As the replies multiplied though, I think you are less inclined to return soon. I’ve never been a fan of MGM and after they wrecked the old Mirage Group one by one for us, I have no inclination to ever return to any of their casinos in the future. I hope you can find another place along the east coast that is more appealing to you that you will want to frequent. We are satisfied enough with our HR here that we can’t see going through the expense and hassle of flying anywhere to gamble. Because we have become so familiar with this casino, I can honestly say we are doing much better here than we have anywhere else in the past. I hope the same for you.

 

If you don't have to pay for parking the next time you pass through I LOVE Honey's Chicken and Donuts...but not worth driving up for as it's just a food court option (a delicious one though...). We heard poor reviews for Jose Andreas' Fish and Ginger (though conflicting here it seems). We've heard the food at Marcus is great but the service is poor. Can't say that we've eaten at any of the sit down places (yet).

 

Chump - good to hear from you! Glad you've found a home at HR and still enjoying it! We were actually supposed to go to the Beau a few weeks ago on a chartered trip but my wife had something come up at work and we had to cancel so this was kind of a last minute idea. I really liked the property and it's not a terrible drive from here so we'll probably give it one more shot and see how it goes. Pay Tables were the same as we get playing in Vegas for the games we play so as far as I know it's just the RNG from there....unless they've changed the way casino's can alter the payback on VP these days?

 

Dino,
We both still love to play VP but hate flying these days. As I kid my wife, our flight down there is only 30 minutes on the weekends, you can keep your clothes on and our RT fares are all of $5. We play weekly and have gotten to know the gang down there very well and they give us first class treatment. We enjoyed the Beau a lot too but they downgraded just about everything back in 2008 so it was never the same for us after that. Do try MGM again. Hopefully you will win next time and be more familiar with the restaurants making it all more enjoyable.

We’re on the third generation of VP. The most recent doesn’t really mimic live poker in that the imaginary deck is being continuously shuffled. Try that in the poker room and you had better be wearing a flak jacket. I think the effect of it is that it has done a good job of eliminating that old hot streak that we all enjoyed previously. The variance of the random also seems to have increased a lot. We have done well on machines for a week or two and then see them go dormant for weeks or even months. All the different games have their own separate programs so if bonus isn’t working try another game before leaving a given machine. We can’t win on bonus but we sure have had considerable luck playing their 9/6 TDB and their 8/ SDB. For whatever reason, dollar seems to play better than quarters on my favorite mchine but the opposite is true for BG’s. Good luck!