Casino Report from Argentina and Uruguay

I finally published it on my Odds page — Casino Report from Argentina and Uruguay. These travel reports may be easy to read, but they take many hours to write and format, so I hope you'll have a look.

I welcome all questions, comments, and corrections.

What were the people like? Were they Euro looking
or more native indian. What did they smell like? Was
there a lot of cologne in the air, or sweat, or spicy
food smells. What were the majority of men wearing,
American looking clothes, or the white shirt and dark
pants that seems to be a world wide uniforn in many
countries.

What casinos smell like is really important. I was in one
somewhere outside of the States and the smell of BO
was so strong I couldn't play there. Kinda like riding
a public bus in Rome in July. If you can stop the automatic
retching reflex from the smell of garlic sweat, you're better
than I am..

There's a little booboo where you say something about a racino, you sued the phrase "Hipódromo race track." The first word "Hipódromo" is Spanish for race track. trust me on that, I pass by "El Hipódromo de Las Americas" every day to and from work :)

Quote: Nareed

There's a little booboo where you say something about a racino, you sued the phrase "Hipódromo race track." The first word "Hipódromo" is Spanish for race track. trust me on that, I pass by "El Hipódromo de Las Americas" every day to and from work :)

Sorry for the unrelated post, but we use the word "Pierogis" all the time to talk about those Polish dumplings, and that is basically double pluralizing. So is "Hipódromo race track" really so wrong?

Quote: kaysirtap

So is "Hipódromo race track" really so wrong?

Yes. You know how saying "ATM machine" is a pleonasm, because you're saying "Automated Teller Machine machine"? Well, "Hipódromo race track" is like saying "ATM automated teller machine." Or like actually saying the "race track race track" :)

Quote: Wizard

I finally published it on my Odds page — Casino Report from Argentina and Uruguay. These travel reports may be easy to read, but they take many hours to write and format, so I hope you'll have a look.

I welcome all questions, comments, and corrections.

Thanks for that Wizard. I consistently enjoy reading your adventures, and appreciate the work that goes into them.

You mention that the main game there is roulette. Why do you think that is? Is it a matter of "Build it and they will come...", or is there something cultural that makes that particular game popular in that region of the world?

Are the USD and Peso chips clearly different? Do some joints use both?

It was interesting to see the chip with the "dedos" sculpture, and the picture of the real thing.

There is a stray editor's comment in the "Summary" section of the write up on the Trilenium

Thanks guys for the comments. Here are my counter-comments.

1. I hit on what the people look like in my blog entry on Buenos Aires. However, since you ask, Argentina and Uruguay are very white. Much more than the US.
2. About the smell, the Puerto Madero smelled a little musty, but not quite enough to mention it writing. I did note that the third floor of the Trillenium was very smoky. Other than that, I didn't really notice the smells, good or bad. My sense of smell is not very strong to begin with.
3. Thanks, I did not know that Hipódromo is Spanish for racetrack. I fixed that. Any common root to the word Hipopótamo = hippopotamus?
4. Thanks for catching the editors remark, I missed that.
5. I could only speculate on why roulette is so big in Argentina. Perhaps because gambling is fairly new to the country, so they wanted to start with something easy to understand. It also has a French aura about it, and the people of Argentina are big on all things European, as long as it isn't from Spain. I'm told that is why there is so much French, Italian, and Greek architecture there -- anything but Spanish.
6. I'm glad somebody liked my picture of the dedos, along with the scan of the chip. Despite being very touristy, I think the dedos are a very artistic and cool idea.

Yes, hipo means horse in greek(?). hipodrome is a "horse course", while hippopotamus means "river horse".

Quote: Wizard

I could only speculate on why roulette is so big in Argentina.

Its big in Europe, like you said, so its big in S America. Its
considered the game of aristocrats and poorer people feel
good playing it.

Actually roulette is the cheapest game to play in any casino in south america, because usually the minnimum bet is 1 unit. There are not such tables as in the US where you find U$10 mins!
Other point, I think that Mr. Wizard lost the opportunity to know the best casino in Argentina, that is the Iguazu Grand, IMO. It is not as big as the one in Puerto Madero, but i am pretty sure it is much more well organized than the "Boat".
It is from our culture to have cheques only in US dollars, or only in a different currency. You will not find in south america two kinds of cheques as I have seen in Dominican Republic, for exemaple. So you must always exchange money and buy chips in the proper denomination.
About the ethinical question, I'd say that the Amerindians will mostbly be found in Peru or Bolivia.
Btw, Wizard, I agree with you about Conrad. It is indeed a great casino to play.