Greetings from beautiful, downtown, Ledyard CT!

OK, maybe it's not exactly 'downtown'. But it IS the only thing happening in this hole in the woods.

I'm at Foxwoods. Nothing like spending Independence Day at a Native American Casino!

This is going to be something of a casino review, although you should also check my thread where I compare Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. These two are only 9 miles apart, and are the only casinos in CT:
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/other-casinos/1918-mohegan-sun-vs-foxwoods-comparisons/

This is all about the resort. I'll have a separate post about the casino and what rules I've noticed.

We got here Saturday 7/3 at about 9:30. The wife wanted to play in their FireCracker Bingo. It's got a $500 admission, with lots of $20,000 prizes, and a $1 million top prize. Sadly, she didn't win anything.

It's us, my brother and his wife, and another couple. My wife is the big gambler amongst us, and was able to get the best rates: $167 for two nights at MGM At Foxwoods.

We all wanted to check in, but she'd be in bingo until 5:00ish. We've hit resistance in this department at other casinos. Most insist that the person that qualified for the good rates be the one to check in. But driving up, she called, and got it so that I can check in, and sign off at the RACK RATE. She merely had to stop by sometime that day to get it rated back to her rate. Cool.

With bingo, the wife got a coupon for a free buffet. She doesn't go for buffets, so she gave me the coupon. I had lunch there. I've been there before and had liked it, but I didn't care for it this time. I have simple tastes and favor the cheap items that are usually on a buffet for the kids in the group. Stuff like fried chicken, mac & cheese, etc. So I didn't eat much. What I did eat was OK, but not great. Then again, maybe I'm the wrong person to write a food review.

Since check-in is at 4:00, and check-out is noon, I figured that 1:30 might be a good time to check-in with a good chance of getting at least one room. That way we could change and use the pool.

I met the rest of my group, except my wife, and we went to the front desk together. The line was Wendy's stye but nobody was on line. Although we were there about 20 minutes, when we were done, we got keys to all three rooms, AND at my wife's rate. Cool!

The only bad thing is that the rooms are on different floors. But that really didn't matter to us.

Then we go to the rooms. The room that was assigned to me was at the end of the hall, which is a problem for the wife, she likes to be near the elevator. And it had a very weird layout. The building has round ends. Not rounded, where the corners are round with, say, a 6 foot radius, but round, where the radius is half the width of the building. This meant that the end units were 1/4 circle shape. But designed with the same square footage. As a result, the furniture layout seemed to be squeezed in strangely.

My bother and his wife didn't care about that, so we switched rooms.

We went to the pool, which was great. A nice size, but it seemed a tad overcrowded. Then again, it was quite hot. The pool is outdoors, with a shallow section that's only 8" deep. Some pool chairs are in the pool. This shallow area was about 15-20% of the size of the pool. Then there were stairs to lead to the 'deep' section - if you call three feet deep. But I believe that shallow section helps heat the entire pool. The water felt like it was heated. Very nice.

The facility is so huge that there are shuttle busses. Actually, several of them that run different routes, but are not all that clear which goes where. The first time I used it, I waited about 15 minutes for a 2 minute ride. The next time I used it, I waited about 1 minute for TWO shuttles to show up at the same time. People are weird. Everyone was squeezing onto the first one, I went to the second one. I was alone, and told the driver I was heading to the poker room. 3 minutes later, we were there, and he mentioned that he's not supposed to stop where he did. There is no stop at the poker room doors. I tipped him a buck as thanks, but no regular stop at the poker room? WTF?

Dinner was at the Stadium Bar & Grill. We went there because they have a beer my brother loves. Unfortunately, they were out of it. The waitress says it doesn't sell much, so they only have one keg. Shouldn't they know when a keg is getting near empty to get a replacement? Whatever. We decided to stay anyway.I ordered for an app Fried Mac & Cheese. Any surprise there? It was interesting. I liked it. For my entree I ordered the burger with bacon & cheese. Apparently, there are TWO burgers that feature bacon & cheddar. One also has BBQ sauce. I'm not a fan of BBQ sauce, but that's the one that I got. It was OK, but not great. And the burger came out well done, although I ordered medium. Everyone with me thought the same about their meal: OK, but not great.

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Today, the wife and I played bingo. No, not for $500. That's only once a year. With her $500 package, she got free entry for her for today. I paid $15. I think we added about $50 worth of specials. We didn't win, but it was a fun/cheap way to kill about 5 hours in a casino.

There's a snack bar in the bingo hall. When we first got there, I went and got us two egg sandwiches. Hers was Western, mine was a sausage. The rolls seemed day old, but weren't terrible. We actually liked them. And for $4.50 each, not too overpriced.

A few hours later, I got us a bowl of soup to share. Corn chowder. It was excellent.

We got out of bingo at 3:30. We had dinner plans for 7:30, so although the soup wasn't much, I didn't get anything else.

I get to the restaurant at 7:35. (Alta Strada in MGM) The other people are seated. My wife gets there 30 seconds later. The place is NOT busy. We're not thrilled with the menu, and want to ask the waiter questions. After 15 minutes of not being met by a waiter, and not even getting water, we decided to leave, and had a word about it with the manager. For whatever reason, the waiter claimed that I said that we want to wait until everyone arrives to order, etc. I never said such a thing, but even if I had, the last person showed up 30 seconds after I did, and we then waited 15 minutes!

So we left. After much indecision, we ended up going to Al Dente. The menu seemed great. The service was great. Until it was time to actually serve us the food. The salads came out about 45 minutes after we ordered. We ate them, a the staff cleared them about 20 minutes after they served it. then we waited about 30 minutes for the entree. It was a minute after one of the women got up to talk to the manager that the food came. Although I liked what I ordered (Cavatelli alla Bolognese - a fancy name for a fancy beef-a-roni), others were unhappy with what they got. My wife's food was cold. My brother ordered the Veal Parm that is part of a coupon offer. He said it tasted like it was prepared last week, and was rather small. The waiter then admitted that the coupon version IS smaller. There was other problems that I can't remember. The manager came over, we explained everything, and she took several of the items off the bill.

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Tomorrow we go home, but not before having breakfast, and maybe lunch. I'll post some more about that afterwards. And I'll post about the casinos themselves later too.

I'm sure you're having a great time and I hope your casino experience is at least slightly better than what you've gone through so far. But bingo, more bingo, fried mac & cheese(yuk!), cheap items in a buffet, egg sandwiches, lines like Wendy's, corn chowder, and beef-a-roni? Where you from, Appalachia?

Quote: DJTeddyBear

...And I'll post about the casinos themselves later too.

of course we are waiting for that!

Foxwoods needs to get with it, don't they know by now?

I was at both Foxwoods and MGM Grand the past week as well, and for the Craps players, the much maligned Fire Bet was on the felt at Foxwoods proper, but not at MGM Grand, in case you are a diehard Fire player. (I play it, but I don't need to.) I don't know if this had anything to do with timing, but Foxwoods gave drinks in plastic cups, and MGM Grand's were in glass. Craps limit was 5 at Foxwoods, 10 at MGM when I was there (Weekend early afternoon, Friday midafternoon).

Quote: JerryLogan

I'm sure you're having a great time and I hope your casino experience is at least slightly better than what you've gone through so far. But bingo, more bingo, fried mac & cheese(yuk!), cheap items in a buffet, egg sandwiches, lines like Wendy's, corn chowder, and beef-a-roni? Where you from, Appalachia?

Hey! I said I have very plain, meat & potatoes tastes. But even that couldn't be adequately satisfied this weekend.

Bingo? Read my casino review coming later tonight or tomorrow.

'Beef-a-roni'? I bet it sounds better when I quote off the menu PDF:
CAVATELLI ALLA BOLOGNESE - $19
Fresh Cavatelli Pasta, Home-Made Bolognese Sauce, Herbed Ricotta
It tasted better than Beef-a-roni too, but that's the closest thing it resembled.

FYI: "Wendy's style line" is a phrase used often in the Wiz' reviews, meaning a single line feeding into multiple attendants. The alternative description is "McDonald's style line" where each window has a line. Personally, I'd have kept it generic and called them "Single line system" or "Grocery store style line". Whatever.

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Final food reviews:

This morning we ate at Junior's Restaurant in MGM. The service was good until the food came out. The place was NOT busy. The food runner brought the food out and placed the tray on a stand near our table, but that's where it sat for close to two minutes before someone came over to serve it. Then, although this person was using the order sheet to verify who got what, four of the six dishes were given to the wrong person! And some of the food wasn't too hot, some of it was no good, etc.

For what it's worth, without me asking, and without anybody knowing I am writing this review, at breakfast they started talking about how, food-wise, everyone agreed that this trip had been a bust.

And it wasn't limited to the casino. My brother then told the story that on the way up, he stopped at a McDonald's rest stop for coffee. His mistake was stopping at the FIRST rest stop. Depending on where you're coming from, this is the first rest stop in 50 to 125 miles. (Word to the wise: The next McD rest stop is about 9 miles further.) He got there at about 8:30am and wanted two coffees. They had run out and it was going to take about 10 minutes to brew. How do you not keep plenty of coffee ready at 8:30am? Mind you, this particular McD is featured in a Travel Channel or Food Channel show as the busiest McD in the world!

We checked out after breakfast, and got lucky because there was no line. However, after we were done, there must have been at least 10 groups of people waiting to check in or out. There were only two clerks at the time. Although the people formed a single line, there were no ropes or stantions.

Between both of our player points, our hotel room was free. Sweet!

I then played some, and we left a few hours later. Because I knew I had about $10 left on my card after checking out, I stopped at Junior's Coffee Shop and got a turkey sandwich for the road. $6. I then threw some condiments in the bag and looked around for napkins. I didn't see any, so I asked. The guy behind the counter gives me ONE napkin - the same size as is used all over the casino. Small! I said "One? I'm gonna eat in the car..." He then handed me about 10 more. Considering it was pre-made (and I knew that going in) it wasn't bad at all.

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I just counted my money, and ran my expenses in my head.

My share (for me and the wife) of the first dinner was $40, second dinner was $50 and breakfast was $28. I also bought about $30 worth of food at various quick/cheap stops, and spent about $65 on bingo.

I have $7 more in my wallet now than I did Saturday morning. Sweet! (My wife isn't saying how she did. Not a good sign...) I guess I'll have to write that casino review next....

Quote: DJTeddyBear

For what it's worth, without me asking, and without anybody knowing I am writing this review, at breakfast they started talking about how, food-wise, everyone agreed that this trip had been a bust.

If you're up that way, it could be worth the trip to eat at Jasper White's place at the Mohegan Sun. When they're on, they produce outstanding food.

Quote:

there must have been at least 10 groups of people waiting to check in or out. There were only two clerks at the time. Although the people formed a single line, there were no ropes or stantions.

No automated or express checkout? Or was the clerk needed because of the points?

Quote: DJTeddyBear

The line was Wendy's stye but nobody was on line.

Is it just me, or are the Wendy's style lines always at places with no wait, while the McDonalds style lines are always in places with huge lines?

Quote: SanchoPanza

No automated or express checkout? Or was the clerk needed because of the points?

Because of the points. And I need to clarify. We didn't check out. We only paid. Checking out, according to the clerk, would have invalidated our keys. We then went up, finished packing, and checked out on the TV, where it indicated a zero balance.

Quote: rdw4potus

Is it just me, or are the Wendy's style lines always at places with no wait, while the McDonalds style lines are always in places with huge lines?

When I went back at 2:30 to claim my luggage and car, the line was long and wound all over the lobby. It was still Wendy's style, and still no ropes and stantions.

A review of the MGM facility and hotel room.

When we went to Mohegan Sun for Memorial Day, my brother an his wife told us that MGM was far better than Foxwoods, and even better than Mohegan Sun. I stuck up a conversation with random couple that I met at Mohegan Sun's pool, and they stated the same thing without my asking.

Note that MGM and Foxwoods are connected, and use the same casino chips.

As I remember Mohegan Sun's beds, they were overly mushy and so exceedingly comfortable to lay on, they were actually uncomfortable to sleep.

The bed at MGM was excellent. Very firm, but also very soft. It's hard to explain.

There was a refrigerator in the room, but it was full of service bar items, so it couldn't be used for personal items.

I had my laptop with me, so I searched for a safe, and was surprised to not find one. It was only when we were packing to leave, and I did the double check, that I found the safe. It is in the nightstand drawer! This means that any motivated person can steal the contents by simply sliding the safe, drawer and all, off the rails, and finding a method to open it off premises. While I think that such a motivated person would be rare, it's a really stupid design.

The bathroom was a nice size, although it had only one sink (I think the room we had a Mohegan Sun had two sinks). Nice size shower with a 61 nozzle shower head. We were staying two nights, so housekeeping left the open shampoo and conditioner in the shower, as well as replaced it in the countertop rack, AND provided an extra of each!

There was a hair dryer on a shelf, but just sitting there, not bolted down. That made my wife VERY happy as she likes to take the dryer, and use it while sitting on the bed.

The toilet was in a separate 'room' of the bathroom, but it didn't have it's own door. Very odd. However, the bathroom did have one feature I've NEVER seen in a hotel: An EXHAUST FAN! It was located above the toilet, which may explain why there was no door. (Kinda a dumb reason, since a short door that provides modesty yet still allowing ample airflow is a simple solution.) It was VERY nice to step out of the shower and not have a fogged up mirror.

Yeah, these couple touches make the MGM rooms better than average, but not so much that people go ape-shit over it, at least in my opinion.

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The lobby and casino are on the same level, with a retail lined hallway between them. In the lobby, there is a view of the pool area, but no doors. Before I turned around, I noticed that the lobby restuarant had an outdoor section, so I went thru it to get outdoors to the pool. Except that put me on the wrong side of the pool. But I could see that not far from me there was a little gate in the pool fence, so I walked around to it, only to find the gate locked. Locked? What the heck for? If someone were to go out the gate and continue walking without turning, they'd be in the woods in 10 feet!

So I ended up walking all the way around to find the correct / single entrance to the pool.

I later found out that coming out of the elevators, instead of turning left to go to the lobby, I should have turned right to go past a restaurant, down a hall, out a door, and down a walkway to get to the pool.

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As I remarked in my Mohegan vs Foxwoods thread, Foxwoods has a very corporate / shopping center feel, with a smattering of Indian design thrown in almost as an afterthought.

The MGM section also seems corporate, but more upscale, with a smatering of Asian design influences. Obviously trying to appeal to the Asian market. But the one time I really took notice of the background music, it was very young, hip sounding stuff.

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Although BOTH of the MGM employees I asked denied it, it seems like the MGM and Foxwoods sections are run by two different companies. Or at least two divisions with very different mentalities and/or don't talk to each other. In addition to the differences I commented upon in the Foxwoods vs Mohegan thread, there are more. The minimum bets at the MGM casino were higher than at the three Foxwoods casino. Foxwoods has the FireBet, MGM does not. I didn't study the casino enough to tell you of rule differences. It's understandable that the cocktail napkins are branded separately, but the bottled water was branded separately too!

As I previously reported, the Foxwoods website has a property map for their section, the MGM website has no map. In the hotel room, and available at various customer service locations, was a version of this map that includes the MGM section. However, the errors that I had reported still exist. Namely, only one of the three Foxwoods casinos has the icon to indicate that it has table games and slots, one indicated slots only, and one indicates keno only!

The MGM casino on the paper map doesn't have the table games OR slots icon either!

However, on the large directory maps scattered throught the facility, the casinos DO have the correct symbols. I use the term 'scattered' because, in my opinion, in a facility in which it's so easy to get disoriented, there are far too few of them. And some of them do not have a "Directory" sign above it!

But it's a good looking, 3-D type map that has artistic flair. Here's a photo (pardon the crappy photo. My phone has a scratched lens.)
Admin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/foxwoods_map_3d.jpg

My gambling report will come later today.

DJ, Great detailed reviews. Looking forward to the gambling report.

On a side note, I thought I recall you saying you lived in Northern NJ...is there some reason you guys typicially go up to the CT casinos, rather than to AC? Are they closer, or do you just prefer them more?

Quote: ruascott

I thought I recall you saying you lived in Northern NJ...is there some reason you guys typicially go up to the CT casinos, rather than to AC? Are they closer, or do you just prefer them more?

We do live in Northern NJ. I prefer AC. I like being able to hop from casino to casino.

We live in the middle. It's about 138 miles to Mohegan Sun, and 147 miles to MGM/Foxwoods. AC is 154. I assumed, correctly, that Foxwoods would not be crowded. I'm sure everything on the NJ shore was crowded, so driving would have been a nightmare. So I didn't object when my brother suggested MGM.

Quote: ruascott

DJ, Great detailed reviews. Looking forward to the gambling report.

Thanks. Here you go, although I hope I don't disapoint you with a lack of detail.

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Bingo:

I wasn't going to get into the bingo much, except one poster questioned my upbringing and heritage because I said I liked playing bingo there. The key to that entire statement is 'there'.

I've played local church bingo, and I hate it. When I was a kid, my mom got me a job at our synagogue, pushing a coffee/snack cart on bingo night. Once I became 18, I started selling specials and being a caller. That might be why I hate local bingo.

But Foxwoods does it differently and makes it fun. And I know that *some* local bingo halls may do *some* of these things too. But Foxwoods does all of them, and all the time.

When Bingo is called, a floorperson goes over, and reads the card number. This is a printing plate number, printed in the Free Space. The caller punches this into the computer, and on monitors all over the room, that card appears, with the bingo highlighted. This feature alone saves a ton of time, and avoids some of the boredom of bingo.

The room is HUGE! Using Google Maps new measurement feature, it looks like the main bingo hall is about 50,000 square feet. Plus, there is a smaller side room where you can play slots while playing bingo. And you can get portable video terminals on which you play bingo.

I can't imagine using the video terminals. That would make bingo too boring. A lady near us had one, and all she did was sit there, arms crossed, watching the terminal, and muttering when someone else called Bingo.

The games officially start at 10:30, but warm-ups start at 8:30. The doors open at 8:00.

Every game has interesting twists. It's not just 5 in a row, but doubles, special arrangements (such as a goal post), hard ways, etc. Some games have 'wild numbers'. I.E. Say the first ball is I-23. Mark off EVERY number ending with '3'. Some games are multiple part. Two or three games are played, then a special.

The game right before the intermission, you need to get "Jail Bars" for the second part. That's the entire 'B', 'N' and 'O' column. Of course, to speed things up, if a ball is an 'I' or 'G' it isn't called.

A few years ago, I won the Jail Bars game. This particular game has a bonus. During the intermission, the winner gets locked up in the Money Booth! You have to grab the money as it swirls around you, then push it thru a little slot in the side of the booth. A bingo person will help you by pulling the bill once they can grab it, but that slot is thin! It's tough to get the bill to go in while the wind is whipping around you! But I was doing a great job, and at one point it seemed like there wasn't much money left, and it felt like my time was almost up. something caught my eye, and I looked up to see a ton of bills stuck to the vent at the top. I doubt most of the itty-bitty bingo players could reach it, but I reached up and scooped a bunch of bills and got them thru the slot just as the time ran out. Then they counted the bills (and counted the ones I missed to make sure none were missing.) I forget how much it was, but they said it was one of the best performances for the amount that was in there at the start!

There is also a Wheel Of Fortune game where the winner spins a big wheel for a bonus prize.

If there are multiple winners for both of these games, the winners draw for high card to see who gets the privilege. Then they share the prize, just like sharing the game prize.

They also have a bunch of cash door prizes during intermission.

Another cool thing they do is, unlike local bingo that has one of those giant called number displays, they have about 30 of them around the perimeter of the room. Next to each, is a video monitor showing the next ball as it rides to the top of the tube in the machine. The caller then turns the ball so the number is rightside up on the display. This is primarily for verification purposes, but it also means that if you're waiting for a number, and it's on the monitor, you're all ready to scream when it's called. Of course this leads to one of two things: 1 - Early Bingo calls. 2 - A rumble of excitment and dissapointment crossing the room.

Half of the last number displays are for the Bonanza game - the last game of the session. That game is a cover-all, and the displays have 40 numbers already called. Yep. They had two complete bingo systems on the stage. This means that during the lulls between games, you can be checking your Bonanza game cards. If none of them are close, buy some more!

My admission was $15. The wife had a free admission coupon from the prior day's $500 package. I spend about $75 on specials and food for both of us.

All in all, it's a great, cost-effective, way to gamble for 5 hours.

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The only other games I played were craps, and $1/$2 no-limit hold-em.

But I did walk around a bit, trying to see some stuff to report here. Unfortunately, I have a lousy memory for that sort of stuff.

All the BJ I saw was 3:2, S17. I don't know the other rules.

The only Roulette I saw was double zero. I checked the limits at only one table. $5 minimum. $200 inside max. $2,500 2:1 max. $5000 1:1 max.

While I like Pai Gow (both poker and tiles), I didn't play or even look for them. I know they're there in the Asian gaming room, but didn't notice them elsewhere. I saw plenty of the carnival games.

When I was in the swimming pool, I got into a conversation with a couple. They were talking about the Wheel of Fortune, and mentioned that they hadn't seen one. Apparently, that's their favorite game. I naturally told them that of all the casino games that are sometimes referred to as 'carnival games', that one truly is. And I explained the bets and odds, and how if they see it, they should stay the hell away! I also said "Can you remember 'wizard of odds dot com'?"

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There's a high limit room off the Grand Pequot Casino.

There is also a high limit salon on the top floor of the Grand Pequot Hotel. A few years ago, we went up, just to take a look. As soon as we stepped off the elevator, the guards and hostess snapped into action, to let us know that it was only for serious players. I asked how they knew that wasn't us. She was very polite and said that if it was us, they would already know who we were, or we'd be stepping off the elevator with a casino host, or a shopping bag full of cash.

We laughed and thanked her for her honesty.

She then said that at that particular moment, there were no players, so invited us to take a look.

It was a few years ago, so I don't remember much, except that it was dark, there was a craps table and a roulette table, and at least a couple other tables, and a full sevice bar. And they were fully staffed with dealers standing ready - even though there were no players.

I meant to check it out again yesterday, but forgot.

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Craps:

As I mentioned already, the craps at MGM does not have the FireBet, but they DO have it at Foxwoods. (They have it at Mohegan sun too). The field pays double for both 2 & 12. I don't play it, but it's hard not to notice. I didn't pay attention to the pays on any of the junk in the middle.

All I know is, in my three craps sessions, I couldn't find a good shooter for anything. And I was trying my 'system': https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/betting-systems/1907-how-to-win-at-a-cold-craps-and-be-ready-when-it-turns-hot/
Bottom line: I'm not playing that system anymore!

One player was doing something I hadn't heard of before: A "Piggyback" hardway bet. This is essentially a two-way bet, one for the player, one for the dealers, and works like a player controlled dealer bet. But the bet is put on top of the player's bet rather than in the middle. I got the feeling that this is a way of getting around the 'no player controlled bets' rule, assuming they have one.

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Poker:

All I play is $1/$2 no limit. I am no fan of their poker room. It used to be on the same level as the rest of the facility, in the back of the RainMaker casino. Back then, it was nice, and you could eat at the tables.

About 4 years ago, it got moved to the room below where it was. This room was originally just some back of house stuff. Then it got converted to a slot room, but got very little action. When the poker room needed to expand, it got moved down there. The ceilings are low, only about 10' in some areas. Lighting isn't great in some areas. But some guys don't care. They'll play poker on top of a cardboard box if there's a game on. Also, you can't eat at the table anymore. THAT'S a big change. It sucks when two or three seats are empty, but locked up with chips, for an hour or so, because somebody went to eat.

There's a snack bar in the back, but the service is slow.

The BIGGEST problem with the poker room is the bathrooms. There are only three mens rooms. Mind you, there are 104 poker tables. That's about 1,000 players, mostly men, plus staff. One mens room has two stalls and three urinals. One has two and two. And the one in the back, next to the snack bar, has ONE stall and ONE urinal! I was playing at a table near there when I had to go. It was wait in line time!

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Slots:

I don't play slots, but yesterday at breakfast, my wife says, "You'll never guess what happened last night..."

She was playing slots and got down to her last $100. She decided to take a walk, and found herself in the high limit slots room. She played a $5 game, two credits a throw. 9 throws and nothing. Her last throw, she wins $400. So she gets up and moves to a $10 game and played there a while. When she got up, she was walking around for a minute when a guy in a suit shows up and says "Hi. Are you Lori? I'm (name), a slot host here. Is there anything I can do for you? We're having a beach chair promotion at noon tomorrow. Will you still be here?" Etc.

I forgot to check it out, but I'll try to remember to look at the chair tonight.

Upon reading the latest in the tipping thread, including a comment of mine that got quoted, I'm reminded to add that the poker dealers POOL their tips.

As a result, I was rarely tipping more than my normal $1 minimum if the pot I win is over $10.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

One player was doing something I hadn't heard of before: A "Piggyback" hardway bet. This is essentially a two-way bet, one for the player, one for the dealers, and works like a player controlled dealer bet. But the bet is put on top of the player's bet rather than in the middle. I got the feeling that this is a way of getting around the 'no player controlled bets' rule, assuming they have one.

When I bet a hardway and include a dealer bet I say "Dealers on top for a buck!".

Essentially you are adding a dollar to the player bet, but letting the dealer know that when you win, you'll parlay the win for them.

As you may know by my other post, I was in Altantic City Wednesday night and yesterday. I didn't have the wife with me, so I stayed at a crummy Days Inn about 5 miles away for $40. The room had three features that exceeded the room I had at MGM:

My Days Inn room had an empty fridge. The MGM room fridge was stocked with mini bar items, so there was no room for my items.

The Days Inn had a silent toilet. I mean it made NO NOISE AT ALL. The MGM room had one of those new, loud, low water, pneumatic toilets. While I can understand the desire to go green and install the low water variety, it was way too loud, and woke my wife when I used it.

The shower at the Days Inn was EXTREMELY easy to adjust the temperature, with a relatively tight handle, making minor adjustments simple. The handle at MGM was too loose, so a minor adjustment meant a big difference in temperature.

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Because of the relatively low occupancy mid-week, the Days Inn had no trouble letting me have a late checkout. Normally it's noon. They didn't even blink when I asked for 1:30.

On the flip side, and equally understadable due to the higher occupancy, MGM did not let us have a late check out.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

As you may know by my other post, I was in Altantic City Wednesday night and yesterday. I didn't have the wife with me, so I stayed at a crummy Days Inn about 5 miles away for $40. The room had three features that exceeded the room I had at MGM:

My Days Inn room had an empty fridge. The MGM room fridge was stocked with mini bar items, so there was no room for my items.

The Days Inn had a silent toilet. I mean it made NO NOISE AT ALL. The MGM room had one of those new, loud, low water, pneumatic toilets. While I can understand the desire to go green and install the low water variety, it was way too loud, and woke my wife when I used it.

The shower at the Days Inn was EXTREMELY easy to adjust the temperature, with a relatively tight handle, making minor adjustments simple. The handle at MGM was too loose, so a minor adjustment meant a big difference in temperature.

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Because of the relatively low occupancy mid-week, the Days Inn had no trouble letting me have a late checkout. Normally it's noon. They didn't even blink when I asked for 1:30.

On the flip side, and equally understadable due to the higher occupancy, MGM did not let us have a late check out.

So, are you going to post a different trip report for your visit?? I never can get enough of the trip reports....

Quote: ruascott

So, are you going to post a different trip report for your visit?? I never can get enough of the trip reports....

The AC trip? Yeah. Sometime later today, probably.

I'll probably add it to the wedding invitation thread.