The good, the bad and the ugly
Dear Mark,
All casinos have slot machines, blackjack tables, etc. Is
there a difference between casino A, B and C? Michelle R.
PLENTY, Michelle! My goal as a player-advocate columnist
is to develop players who can identify beneficial gaming
situations, not only the bets you make in a casino but the
casinos themselves. So are all casinos the same? No, no-the
correct answer is this: No two casinos are alike. Some are
good, and some, well let me describe the differences:
The Good: Though more come to mind, I'll give you
two examples: the Club Cal Neva in Reno and Binion's Horseshoe
in Las Vegas. Here's what they offer their cherished players-that's
you and me, Michelle. Besides some of the cheapest food
prices-99¢ breakfasts and $3.99 steak dinners-they
offer great gaming plays like 25¢ crap games with up
to 10 times odds, single-deck blackjack with liberal rules,
single-zero roulette, excellent video poker pay tables,
loads of loose nickel and quarter machines and comps just
for breathing.
These casinos, the ones that treat you like a treasured
commodity and are always trying to increase buyer value,
are casinos I hope you, Michelle, will migrate to.
The Bad: Quite possibly, this is the casino you normally
play in. Gouging table limits on the weekends; tough getting
comps (stale popcorn and lucky dogs don't cut it); poor
pay tables on video poker machines; and tight slots. Basically,
they put out games for your convenience and count their
money. Plus, the practice of my #1 rule of casino management-who's
the boss, you the customer-is limited. If your favorite
casino has any of the above symptoms, maybe it's time to
change.
The Ugly: Casino Windsor. Knowing full well they
have the only game in town, Detroiters who cross the river
to Canada-and all players for that matter-are being ripped
off, big time! For starters, charging $40 for valet parking
and instant admission versus parking two blocks away and
waiting up to two hours to get in is absurd. Hopefully that
has changed.
But I'm just warming up. They opened with $15 table minimums/$200
maximums-which can deplete a modest bankroll in mere minutes;
zero nickel, very limited quarter and mostly dollar slots;
and very poor pay tables on video poker machines equaling
what you would find in airports and grocery stores. Finally
the triple whammy: I found food service at the buffet slow,
quality only fair, and prices high. Unequivocally, two thumbs
down on Casino Windsor.
But even I get the worst of it once in a while, Michelle.
After spending the day lounging poolside at the Mirage Hotel/Casino
in Las Vegas, my friends and I decided instead of watching
a sporting event in their sports book-we were just too tired
(lazy) to leave the room-that a some beer and a few snacks
in our room would do the trick. We each threw in a few bucks
and sent our runner (scissors cuts paper) down to a convenience
store called "Impulse" in the Mirage Hotel. Noting
here that all the "buyer impulse" merchandise
we purchased wasn't priced, the cost of two six-packs, one
small package of Jerky, and two eight-ounce boxes of Cheese
Nips: $29.43! Thought I would pass along my lesson learned
to you.
So, Michelle, the key here is shopping for value, not only
on your bet selection, but learning to shop casinos. Warren
Nelson, owner of the Club Cal Neva in Reno, has lived by
a simple principle most of his career: "Give the players
the best bet (lowest odds for the house) that you can while
still making a profit, and they will play longer, leave
satisfied and come back bringing their friends." I
applaud his sound reasoning and, Michelle, that's the kind
of casino where you should play.
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