Santa Ana Star trip report

Well, thanks, just read this and we have been needing a report on this casino! I guess I was expecting a "catch" about the zero HE craps but you are reporting none it seems. Good! The comps thing is even more surprising.

Quote: klimate10

Next time, I do intend to tip the Star dealers $100 each after the trip. I tend to think now that $20 each was a bit low. Dealers going table for table resulted in a much more pleasant and friendly dealer environment.

I don't know if they could have been friendlier, or made the session more enjoyable, but I'd suggest tipping at the beginning, and/or making tip bets while you're playing.

It's become my practice to toke on dealer odds for the 4/10 anyway, so I can only suggest throwing a 4 or 10 free buy for the dealers while you're playing them. In fact, what I'd do with the free buy is press the toke as it hits. So if you have a dealer toke on the free 4, tell them you control it and when it hits, give them half and press half. Hit a few in a row and have very happy dealers.

I'm glad someone else has finally found the Santa Ana Star. My closest to home casino is Sandia, then Route 66, then the Star. The three are on my circuit depending on what I'm in the mood for.

The Santa Ana Star is about 30 minutes north of Albuquerque in the Village of Bernalillo. A Tribal Casino (Santa Ana Pueblo) with great craps and probably the best VP around here, also a second-level bowling alley! Since there is no on site Hotel, I'm guessing they put you up at The Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa? That's a really nice place with a heavenly golf course. Frequent shuttle busses to the Casino too.
You're quite right when you say it's low roller heaven. Lot's of $20/40/60 buy-in's. I usually buy-in for $200 and get treated like a king. Max odds are 10X. I'm also a frequent $1 pass line bettor with 2X odds for the dealers too. The dealers are very friendly. They also have 9/6 JOB dollar machines and 9/5 JOB Progressive machines @ $0.25. Food is average, buffet/coffee shop and snack bar. It can also be VERY smokey most of the time.

The Sandia Resort & Casino is about 20 minutes north of Albuquerque on the Sandia Pueblo. It's the largest casino in the Albuquerque metro area with nicest amenities on property (hotel, restaurants, nightclub, spa, pool, golf, outdoor ampitheater). It's close, it's easy. I'm also turning in my player's club points for a new set of adams clubs and nike golf shoes to start playing golf again this year!
I have choppy results at craps here. Mostly $5 PL with $25/30 odds (5X odds Max) and occasional $12/6 or 8. Sometimes come betting when the mood strikes. I'm a frequent $1 PL with 2X odds for the dealers tipper, so they all know me on a first name basis as do most of the box people. Most of the "nicer" people come here when going out for the night. Fair VP with only 8/5 JOB at the $1 and up level. My wife plays plays Bingo here too, it's the nicest with electronic and paper, best payouts with 2X daily sessions 7 days a week. Fortune Pai Gow Poker at $15 a hand. Mini Baccarat in the High Limit room is $25 minimum (99% Asian players!)

The Route 66 Casino Hotel is about 20 minutes west of Albuquerque on the Laguna Pueblo. Since it's an exit off I-40 with a large truck stop, it's frequented by lot's of long haul truckers and locals. They do have an attached hotel with a night club and restaurant.
I seem to have pretty good luck playing craps here since the tables are usually pretty lively most any time and 10X odds. VP is fair with the best JOB 8/6 at the $5 level. They have Bingo here. Also $5 a hand Fortune Pai Gow Poker. The Best Casino Buffet will be found here with Thursday being Seafood night and Friday being Asian night, New Mexican fare most other times.

Last but not least is The Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque about 15 minutes south of Albuquerque. The Isleta Pueblo bought the Hard Rock name to spruce up their crappy casino 2 or 3 years ago. Enough said. If you like dark, smoky with sketchy people...come here.

Overall, it's not bad considering we're in the middle of the desert...WAY different than Las Vegas. And yes, NO Alcohol in the gaming areas. Could you imagine all the locals getting looped up on free liquor?...not a pretty site at all.

Thanks for pointing out the mistake, DJ.

I have fixed the mistake and added some more pics and report lines.

Also, ten2win, I noticed that the Star had a very good selection of video poker. There is a bank of about six machines that have a big ass sign "THESE $1 MACHINES PAY 100%". I am not a AP video poker player, so I did not play it. Also, I am not aware if the 100% was based off the pay tables, or if the 100% was based off the progressive, which was over 7,000 for a Royal, when I was at the Star.

A bit more info about the BJ at the Star, as I am a former card counter (I am a former counter because making $2 an hour isn't a livable wage). The double deck game has 85% penetration, or so it seemed. But upon closer inspection, the penetration was closer to 66-75%. They insert the cut card about 15 cards before the last card, but then I noticed that the BURN is comprised of 10-15 cards. So they take a clump off the top. Effectively, this is the same as about 66-75% penetration. Rules suck. HS17, split one time only, no RSA, No surrender, no DAS.

Six deck has 75% penetration. Dealer hits soft 17, split up to 4 hands, double after split, late surrender.

People howled in protest when I hit soft 18, people became furious when I hit hard 12, people were confused when I surrendered a hard 17 versus an ace. No one knew anything about basic strat. People hate the surrender rule. I surrendered 8,8 versus the dealers Ace, and caused the lady next to me to draw a bust. A few hands later, I split 8,8 against a dealer's 10, and the woman got upset that I didn't play consistently. I laughed at her.

One thing I always hate is when dealers give bad advice. Every dealer (EVERY) kept telling me that hitting any 18 is bad and it fed the fire for the players when a play caused to dealer to draw a strong hand. I found it amusing.

But, I was only betting $5-20 a hand when I was playing BJ, while doing a red seven count (Im too lazy nowadays to convert to a true count). Here's a pic of my buddy playing BJ. Deck was positive, so I had him bet $20. Notice the ridiculous side bet. I was counting for him, as he is not a counter.

Ten2win,

How is craps at the route 66?

Does anyone in the area have 100 times odds? 20 times?

Klimate,

Route 66 craps is played on the regular sized table not the larger one you played on at the Star. Odds are 10X with the usual bets available. Nothing special like at the Star.

10X is the best odds you'll find in the state.

That bank of eight slots with the sign that says "these machines return 100.65%" is figured by adding the progressive jackpot for the 5 dollar maximum on these dollar machines.

Where did you stay during your comped stay at the Star?

We stayed at the Hyatt, a very nice hotel indeed.

I'm still confused as to why a casino, like the Star, with all of its low rollers, would have a hotel like the Hyatt nearby. My guess is that the Star doesn't own the Hyatt, but that the Star contracts for rooms, since the Star doesn't have an attached Hotel. So my next question then is....why does an small city like Bernalillo, with its seemingly poor citizens, have a Hyatt with a high end golf course?

The Star us my favorite place for craps, by far. Im so spoiled now by the free 4,10. The only down side to the Star is that the limit is $500. Sometimes I like to bet the table max if Im down or chasing a loss, and 500 is really low. But I guess it will help me when Im on craps tilt. Lol.

Does anyone in town have a BJ somewhere dealer stands on soft 17?

Quote: klimate10

Notice the ridiculous side bet.

The "Tie" bet is not so bad. The Wizard worked out an overall house edge of .24% in his WoO's site BJ Appendix 8 (assuming the rules are similar to the game he analyzed at Caesars.)

Hmm, that's very surprising! That's low for a side bet. Has anyone done an analysis of whether or not the Tie bet is countable?