Iowa + South Dakota Road Trip

I'll be driving through Iowa north to the Sioux Falls area in September for the Grand National Cribbage Open. I have a friend who lives in SD who says there's nothing playable as 90% of the casinos are 10-slot dive bars. Anything on the radar in the Des Moines/Sioux City area?

I've heard some comment that the Hard Rock Sioux City has some ok games; I haven't been there yet myself. I love that you play cribbage! It was my grandfather's favorite game, and one of my dad's; we played it as soon as we could hold cards. Good luck!

I hear Williams, Iowa is quite nice.

Grand Falls casino is in Iowa but actually only about 20 miles from Sioux Falls. I'm not sure what you're looking for or what you consider playable, but they have 20 or so blackjack tables with the annoying Midwest standby 21+3 sidebet where some a-hole is always cheering for the dealer to have a face card up, roulette, craps, UTH, Mississippi Stud possibly another game or two, and your normal assortment of slots and bland restaurants you find in Midwest casinos. I do recall the video poker tables there to be quite pathetic.

It's awesome you play cribbage. Since I have left Wisconsin, I can't find anyone who knows how to play the game

Thanks for the replies so far. We are actually stopping at Grand Falls for a nightly poker tournament, so if there is something there that looks good we will definitely get in on it. I'm not sure if any of the casinos offer free drinks, or if that's even legal in Iowa, but that would be a big plus. So far I'm looking at Winnavegas, Hard Rock, Ameristar, and Grand Falls. I might just go scout out some stuff for the future since the drive isn't that far.

I have only been to one casino in Iowa and that was maybe 12 years ago, but don't remember whether there were free drinks or not. I know it's illegal to give out free drinks in Illinois due to the "happy hour" laws. In Illinois bars can have specials but those specials must be for an entire day. So you can have $15 Miller Lite buckets on Sundays but you can't have a happy hour from 4-7 where you have $15 buckets and then it goes back up to $20 outside those hours. The laws don't allow 2 for 1 specials either.

If you are in the Des Moines area, there is one casino in the metro area - Prairie Meadows. Full assortment of table games and poker. Free drinks can be had if you accumulate enough points for it, and are limited to 2 per day, otherwise you pay.

If you are going through the Omaha metro, there are three casinos in Council Bluffs, IA - Horseshoe, Harrah's, and Ameristar. Harrah's is small. Horseshoe and Ameristar both have a full assortment of table games. Horseshoe is the only one with poker. Horseshoe and Harrah's offer free drinks to anyone playing on Friday nights. Other days, free drinks can be had if you are betting at least $25 per hand / spin / etc or are a diamond card member with Total Rewards. Unlimited usage. I do not know about Ameristar's drink policies.