Non Vegas: Grand Victoria (Rising Sun, In)

Okay, no big wins to report, mostly some observations. After having gone to Vegas, nothing comes close to the atmosphere or the goose bumps one gets just by setting foot in that city. However, of the non vegas Casino's I've been too, the Grand Victoria in Rising Sun Indiana comes the closest. I have two or three Casino's within a 2 1/2 hour drive. Wheeling Island I wouldn't consider a true Casino, more like a grander Slots of Fun, but without any table games just pure slots. If you are into Slots its the place to go. Argosy is the next, and is more in the Vegas tradition. The problem I have with Argosy is that it is too popular. It is right off I-275, and thus gets a high amount of traffic. If you are a low roller like I am, and don't play slots, then the $10 - $25 table mins are a turn off. The bank roll just goes to quickly.

Grand Victoria is tucked away in the country side, and is about a 15 minute drive from the Argosy. It's far enough out of the way that it doesn't get as much traffic, but in order to bring people in, the offers are better. First, unlike Argosy that charges a $2 ($3 state requirement, Argosy eats a doller) fee to get on the boat, admission to Grand Victoria is free. They still give you a ticket but you don't have to pay. Indiana state law requires a $3 fee for admission, but Grand Victoria eats this cost. Indiana also doesn't allow the casinos to comp alchol, but all other drinks are comped.

Where Grand Victoria stands out in my mind is the following:

1. Brighter decor than Argosy. Argosy reminds me of a very dark Sahara in it's color scheme. After a while it gets very depressing. Not what one needs when the dealer just drew a 21 from a 16 against your 20. Grand Victoria isn't nearly as bright as say the Golden Nugget, but about the same brightness as say Monte Carlo, Venetian, Orleans, and Bellagio. Overall it helps keep the mood up.

2. Newer slots. True they don't have nearly as many slots as Argosy or Wheeling, but many of the more popular slots that are in Vegas are now showing up here. I'm not much of a slot player, but when I do, I like to play "Little Green Men", "Jackpot Party", and "Texas Tea".

3. The low roller at the tables can get rated. Yes a rarety that is disappearing slowly in Vegas is alive and well here. I just recently returned from a trip there in which I played most $5 - $10 a hand BlackJack, and not only held my own for 4 and half hours, but also rated high enough to get a Comp to their buffet. I have yet to be able to do that playing the same amount in Vegas. Most of the time it's not even worth handing over your player's card unless you are playing $15 - $25 a hand at places like Sahara, forget about it if you want to try it at many of the other Casinos. One thing on the Comps. Ask for them! If you don't ask, they aren't going to offer them. I took a shot and got the buffet based on my play.

4. Rules and odds are good. Single Zero roulette, 10x Odds on craps, blackjack rules as follows for all tables with a few tossing in the surrender option:

Stand all 17s
Double any two cards
Resplit after splitting (ie, delt 8 - 8, split, delt 8, 8 again, can split again).
Double after splitting (i.e. delt 8 - 3 after split)
A few tables offer the option to Surrender. These are mostly $10 a hand tables.

One thing to note, is that the $5 blackjack tables are hand shuffled, and are 8 deck shoes. All other shoes are 6 decks, and auto shuffled.

For you slot players, they offer 3x points on Monday and Wednesdays all day.


5. Quick response on player cards. I joined back in July, and two weeks after I joined they sent me an offer for $5 free on my next visit. Needless to say I used it my next visit. They got it back in a nickle Texas Tea machine (Orleans Texas Tea machines are way looser).

A few other things to note about Grand Victoria. It is run by the Hyatt, and for our golfing friends has a kick ass links style 18 hole golf course on site. It looks brutal, but fun. Room rates average about $100 a night.

In closing, I've made two trips to Grand Victoria in the last month. Both taking a bank roll of about $200 dollars. The first trip, I broke even on blackjack, but Texas Tea ate $40 of it. This last trip, I came out ahead $20, plus received my buffet comp. So I would consider it a break even trip. My only expense for total of 10 hours of fun, was gas for the car. Well worth it in my opinon.

Grand Victoria will do for me until I can get my next trip to Vegas around December. Eventually I plan on a trip to Bellterra but that is about a 4 hour drive. A little long for my tastes.

[ August 04, 2003, 07:42 PM: Message edited by: KingArgyle ]