Casino Chip of the Day

Quote: rdw4potus

Today's chip of the day comes from the Hollywood casino in Toledo, OH.

Ah, another new state for the thread.

In contrast to my recent comments about not likely getting to the casinos in the Dakotas, I really do expect to get to some/all of the Ohio casinos within the next year or two. I have mentioned before that I like to attend the Kentucky Music Weekend in Louisville the last weekend of July (missed it this year because of a conflicting high school reunion) and that I like to extend such trips to casinos I might not otherwise visit. I have to decide whether the 2014 trip will include excursions to Ohio and Indiana or alternatively to Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. I doubt we will want to drive both of those routes on the same trip.


Edit 8/11/16: I finally got my chip from the Hollywood casino in Toledo and posted it here.

Quote: Konbu

Would love to roll some dice with Doc for cheap cheap at Western Village. $1 craps!

If you are in that area, then that's a definite possibility. Western Village is on my list of casinos where I need to pick up a souvenir chip.

My wife and I will arrive in that part of the state (staying at Lake Tahoe) on Monday 9/23 and depart on Friday 9/27. If you are interested in getting together for craps, and if Monday-Thursday work for you, let me know. I don't have my schedule planned in detail, so I don't know just when I would get to the Western Village if we don't have plans to meet up. I do know that one day while there I plan to drive the big loop from the lake to Gardnerville, Yerington, and Fallon to gather chips, stopping off in Virginia City for a little tourist stuff on the way back to the lake. That drive/gaming will probably take most all of that day.

I might decide to hit the three Sparks casinos on my list on Monday right after our plane lands in Reno mid-day, before driving down to Lake Tahoe. Of course, I can usually be flexible in my plans when there's a chance to meet up with a forum member.

Sorry I'm from the bay area and sadly I can't make it on weekdays. But I recommend going later at night to the Alamo. They are the only ones with a tub. Don't know if they even open it on weekday nights. You could always call and check. Have not had the chance to throw in a tub... must be fun. Maybe you already have one of the chips from Sparks but just a reminder there's 4. Rail City, JA Nugget, Western Village and Alamo.

Quote: Konbu

Sorry I'm from the bay area and sadly I can't make it on weekdays. But I recommend going later at night to the Alamo. They are the only ones with a tub. Don't know if they even open it on weekday nights. You could always call and check. Have not had the chance to throw in a tub... must be fun. Maybe you already have one of the chips from Sparks but just a reminder there's 4. Rail City, JA Nugget, Western Village and Alamo.

New one opened up at the old Silver City now too (across from JA Nugget). Not sure if they have tables.

Yeah the Bourbon Square
http://www.northernstarcasinos.com/bourbon-square-casino

According to the website there are no tables "at this time."

Quote: Konbu

Maybe you already have one of the chips from Sparks but just a reminder there's 4.

Picked up one from the JANugget when I was out that way in October 2011.

State: Ohio
City: Cleveland
Casino: Horseshoe

Today's chip of the day comes from the Horseshoe casino in Cleveland, OH. The casino opened on 5/14/12. It is located right in downtown Cleveland in a converted department store. It has a 96,000sqft gaming floor with 2,100 gaming machines and 119 tables. The casino is connected to a mall. This is the only example I can think of where a casino is connected directly to a pre-existing shopping area. Because of the limitations of a downtown location, Horseshoe's parking area is not particularly close to the casino. After parking, it's about a 1-2 block walk to the casino, depending on the doors used.

I visited the Horseshoe later in the same evening that I visited Hollywood. I got to Horseshoe in the early morning hours, and I played UTH for a few hours. Then I attempted to retire to my hotel room, but I couldn't find it. As I mentioned, Horseshoe is attached to a mall. In/above the mall, there is a Ritz Carlton. Horseshoe was kind enough to comp a room in the hotel. But, nobody could tell me how to get there. In their defense, I was so tired I was probably not making much sense. The folks in the Casino kept trying to give directions through the mall, and I kept failing to follow the directions. Finally, I got someone in the mall to pretty much walk me to the elevator to the lobby. I'm not sure who hangs out in a mall at 5am, but that's probably the only reason I found a bed at all that night.

Here is a picture of the casino:


My chip from Horseshoe is a Paulson RHC. In retrospect, so is my Hollywood chip. I placed too much faith in the MOGH's style listing, which lists just the H&C designation. Like the Hollywood chip, this one was collected only 2 months after the casino opened. It's one of the more perfect Paulson chips in my collection.

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Quote: rdw4potus

The casino is connected to a mall. This is the only example I can think of where a casino is connected directly to a pre-existing shopping area.

I haven't been there to see it yet, but wasn't Maryland Live! built that way?

Probably I just completely misunderstood. I expect to be checking that place out in a couple of weeks.


Edit (6/15/14): Well, I finally made it to Cleveland to pick up a souvenir chips from the casino that rdw4potus covered above. I posted my photos here.

Quote: Doc

I haven't been there to see it yet, but wasn't Maryland Live! built that way?

Probably I just completely misunderstood. I expect to be checking that place out in a couple of weeks.

I haven't been there either. I keep meaning to make a weekend loop of the couple DE cardclubs and most of the MD casinos. Maybe this weekend is that weekend.

And I think Dover Downs is also at a mall, though it may not be directly connected to the shopping area. I'm also not sure if the mall is older than the track or not, and I really don't know how to rule if the order is track, mall, racino.

State: Minnesota
City: Carlton
Casino: Black Bear

Today's chip of the day comes from the Black Bear casino in Carlton, MN. Black Bear is in rural northeastern MN, just south of Cloquet, just west of Duluth, right on I-35. It's a big casino for being in the middle of nowhere - 80,000sqt, 2000 machines, 20 tables. The casino is a venture of the Fond Du Lac band of Ojibwe.

I've been to Black Bear 3 times. I'm pretty sure that this was the first casino that I ever visited, when we stopped in after a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in June of 1999. I don't know how/why, but my buddy's dad had some sort of blackjack emergency and just had to play. Maybe he just wanted us 18 year old guys to get a taste of gambling (18 is gambling age in MN). I visited again in the Summer of 2007 and picked up this chip, and I've visited once since when I wanted/needed to wait out a storm before continuing down the interstate. Black Bear tries pretty hard to be friendly and playful, in an effort to get people to leave Minneapolis, drive past 3 other casinos, and play at Black Bear. They do have state leading games (98% VP, .46% BJ), but so do most places. What really sets Black Bear apart is the playfulness. The marketing staff is clever, the customer-facing staff is fun, and offers are usually pretty rich in deference to the added distance traveled.

Here's a picture of the entrance of the casino. I'm not sure, but I think this may be from before their most recent remodel, which included the addition of a parking ramp.



My chip from Black Bear is a Chipco product. It was issued in 1998 and remained in play until 2010. There's a fair bit of wear around the rim, and while that wear is somewhat uniform, there is no intentional white line around the edge of the chipface.

Yes, as a matter of fact I have been to Minnesota. Just once. In 1997, I think. Never heard of Carlton and doubt I will ever add a Black Bear chip to my collection.

Ah, the things I miss out on by being a southern boy.

Quote: Doc

Yes, as a matter of fact I have been to Minnesota. Just once. In 1997, I think. Never heard of Carlton and doubt I will ever add a Black Bear chip to my collection.

Ah, the things I miss out on by being a southern boy.

Oh, c'mon, now! You've been to the airport more times than that:-)

But, yeah, other than the casino, Carlton's claim to fame is a natural gas pipeline connection. And a Quickie Mart. Nearby Cloquet is a bit better. At least their Quickie Mart is Frank Lloyd Wright designed.

I'm sure many other trips take priority (and I could add several to your list as well) but a drive along the North Shore of Lake Superior between Duluth, MN and Thunder Bay, ON is one of the better touristy trips I've ever taken. Lots of little shops & restaurants, waterfalls & hiking trails, "Mountains" on one side, and the lake on the other. A couple world-class golf courses, too, though I don't think that's your "thing."

Quote: rdw4potus

Lots of little shops & restaurants, waterfalls & hiking trails, "Mountains" on one side, and the lake on the other. A couple world-class golf courses, too, though I don't think that's your "thing."

Don't forget that, as opposed to Colorado, there's plenty of breathable air :)

Quote: rdw4potus

You've been to the airport more times than that:-)

OMG, you're right! I've been to Minnesota twice already this year, and in the winter both times; I just didn't realize it. It's hard to recognize that one is in that (or any particular) state when you don't make it outside of the TSA barriers.

As for that Quickie Mart design, a cantilevered roof in snow country just doesn't build confidence. I guess you just have to have confidence in the famous designer rather than your visual impression.

State: Minnesota
City: Shakopee
Casino: Canterbury Park

Today's chip of the day comes from Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN. The cardroom has about 30 tables and about 30 other table games. The property also has a thoroughbred race track and simulcast facility. Shakopee is on US 169, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis. It is perhaps best known for being home to Valley Fair.

I have been to Canterbury approximately 1,600 times. They used to have the best BJ game in MN. Now it's a close 2nd or 3rd, depending on if you're planning to anger Mr. Lubin or not. It also has absolutely the best non-cheating AP plays on carny games that I've ever seen. They have SHFL's progressive system on the 3cp, 4cp, PGP, LIR, and UTH tables, they advertise the current (1 day old) progressive values on their website. So, if you know the breakeven point, you know which games are +EV without visiting. Plus, they allow the player to play only the sidebet and progressive on 3CP (5/4 paytable) LIR (6/4 paytable), and 4CP (30/7/6/5/2, WoO's Paytable 4: 3.37% HE).

Canterbury has gone through a couple remodels since the card room opened. Most recently, they've flipped the positions of the carny and poker games, so that the carny games are closer to the door. That means that carny game players don't have to walk through the poker room and clutter the aisles, and it also means that poker players and people on the waitlist have more convenient access to the other tables while they wait to be seated for poker. Here is a picture of the exterior entrance closest to the card room, and an interior picture from right after the remodel was completed. Usually, interior pics of casinos are crap, but this one is not bad.




My primary chip from Canterbury is a Bud Jones product. It's in good shape, and it cleaned up pretty well in my gunk-removal process earlier this year. I also have a 10-year anniversary chip from this property, but I apparently haven't photographed that chip. If I can find it in my collection over the weekend, I'll add that image to this post later.

State: Minnesota
City: Duluth
Casino: Fond-Du-Luth

Today's chip of the day comes from the Fond-Du-Luth casino in Duluth, MN. The casino is located in downtown Duluth, very near the medical and business districts. It's a native american casino (owned by the Fond Du Lac band, like Black Bear), and downtown Duluth is certainly not on any reservation. I assume they have a waiver of some sort. I wonder why other tribes don't try more assertively to use this precedent to try to get into downtown Minneapolis or downtown Saint Paul. This casino is small, 750 machines and 4 tables on 20,000 sqft. A similar property would do very well near Target Field/Target Center (hey, is Target maybe headquartered in Minneapolis?) or the Xcel Center in Saint Paul.

This casino couldn't be cuter from the outside. It reminds me a lot of the casinos in Cripple Creek, only Fond-Du-Luth hasn't been updated on the inside.


I visited Fond-Du-Luth and collected my chip shortly after I visited Black Bear in the summer of 2007. I was on the way from Minneapolis to Northwestern Wisconsin, and I took I-35 and visited these casinos rather than cutting over and driving up through WI. Gaming stops notwithstanding, the interstate route is usually slightly faster for a leadfooted driver. My experience at Fond-Du-Luth was...interesting. They advertise quite a bit on TV and especially radio in the Duluth market. Those advertisements focus on the excitement of the casino. But, it isn't exciting. At all. I bet it was exciting 30 years ago when their machines were new and their staff and patrons were much younger. But the only thing that has happened since the casino opened in 1986 is that everything involved has aged. I collected my chip by playing BJ. It was a fun and easily beatable game, but there was only one table open and a regular player came in and wanted "his spot" at the full table. Plus, I needed to get back on the road to head to my engagement in Wisconsin.

My chip from Fond-Du-Luth is a B&G product. The logo is at the 3 o'clock position on the chipface. I have never been to this casino at night, but I'm told that the logo is a stylized interpretation of the building and exterior lighting.

So what does "Duluth" or "Du-Luth" mean anyway? I found on Wiki (reliable and useful as ever) that the city is named for "Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut" with an Anglicized spelling, but I can't find a reasonable translation of the expression beyond "Mr. Du Lhut." Since it's already been established that my knowledge of Minnesota is mostly restricted to changing planes at MSP, I would appreciate some enlightenment from the cognoscenti.

Quote: Doc

So what does "Duluth" or "Du-Luth" mean anyway? I found on Wiki (reliable and useful as ever) that the city is named for "Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut" with an Anglicized spelling, but I can't find a reasonable translation of the expression beyond "Mr. Du Lhut." Since it's already been established that my knowledge of Minnesota is mostly restricted to changing planes at MSP, I would appreciate some enlightenment from the cognoscenti.

I think "Du-Luth" is a play on the Fond Du Lac tribe name. Du-Luth is just cute, while Fond du lac means bottom of the lake in French. As for Sieur du Lhut, I can only get us one step closer to the answer. du means "the", or "of the" so Daniel is a man of the...Lhut. I feel like that should be a place, but google disagrees with me.

City names are fun. Is Duluth, Georgia named for this same guy? I grew up in Mankato, MN. That city's name was supposed to be Mahkato, but a transcription error during the registration process resulted in the h changing to an n. Mahkato means "blue earth," while Mankato means "blue skunk." There is also a Mankato in Kansas. Do they actually have blue skunks there?

Quote: rdw4potus

Is Duluth, Georgia named for this same guy?

Wiki claims so. Take that for what you think it's worth. It's clear that the guy had a bit to do with the Great Lakes region but not so clear he had anything to do with the southeast. My baseless guess is that Duluth, GA was named for Duluth, MN, perhaps after someone moved south.

State: Minnesota
City: Hinckley
Casino: Grand Casino Hinckley

Today's chip of the day comes from the Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN. (note to Doc: tomorrow's chip comes from this facility's similarly named sister property) Grand Casino Hinckley opened in 1992 and has 2,500 machines and 38 tables on their 68,000 sqft gaming floor. Hinckley is famous for 4 things: 1. a horrifically devastating town-wide fire in 1894, 2. Cassidy's Golden Pine, a motor Inn/restaurant widely known for its homestyle cooking, 3. Tobies bakery, maker of head-sized cinnamon rolls, and 4. this casino. So, for those keeping score at home, that's 1 catastrophe, two highway-side restaurants, and a casino. Yep, it's a happening place.

As far as I can tell, the property was managed by Grand Casinos (the Mississippi casino operator) from 1992 to 1998. When Park Place bought Grand, the non-Gulf coast management was spun off to Lakes Gaming. The tribe did not renew Lakes's management of the properties in MN. The casino in Hinckley is upscale and quite busy. It's close enough (about 80 miles) to Minneapolis to get some metro traffic, and it's also the closest casino to a number of outstate cities. Additionally, it's right on the path from Minneapolis to the resort areas in northern MN and WI. Since I started gambling, they've improved this property in pretty much every way - huge new hotel towers, newer better restaurants, better supplemental on-site housing (there's a rental trailer park for people who don't want the hotel, it's a big party scene), new games & more tables, and a snazzy new entrance.

Here's a picture of the property from the front, showing off that new entrance:



I haven't stopped at Grand Casino Hinckley as often as I've been to other Minnesota casinos. I've been to Grand casino about 10 times over an 8 year period. I collected my chip in 2007, before getting to Black Bear and Fond-du-luth (I was driving up the interstate). I didn't play very long at all that day, winning $20 in one shoe of BJ before heading on my way. But I had a very memorable trip to this casino a few years later. I'd forgotten my wallet and arrived with no gas in my tank. So I had $4 in cash, $7 in freeplay, and a need to drive at least 100 miles on whatever gas I could buy at the end of my session. I won $125 on the last hand with the free play!

My chip from Grand Casino Hinckley is a Paulson RHC. The edges are slightly worn, but it's very clean. For lack of a better way of explaining it, Paulson's seem to have two compositions - chalky and waxy. Chalky chips colllect goop, while waxy chips stay relatively clean. This one is waxy.

I was at Hinkley this afternoon and won about $200. We were going to pick up a free air matress but they were all gone when we got there so they gave us $40 each in free play.

Quote: rdw4potus

note to Doc: tomorrow's chip comes from this facility's similarly named sister property)

Ah, always appreciate a good heads up.    :-)

Just a small, amusing item: The MOGH catalog page for chips from the Grand Casino Hinckley shows a 50¢ chip that was rejected and canceled. It seems that Paulson (yes, Paulson) misspelled the name of the place as "Hinkley" right on the center inlay of the chip. Not the kind of ooops!  that you expect to encounter on a LCV Top Hat and Cane chip.

Quote: Doc

Just a small, amusing item: The MOGH catalog page for chips from the Grand Casino Hinckley shows a 50¢ chip that was rejected and canceled. It seems that Paulson (yes, Paulson) misspelled the name of the place as "Hinkley" right on the center inlay of the chip. Not the kind of ooops!  that you expect to encounter on a LCV Top Hat and Cane chip.

Maybe kracker21 works for Paulson he spelled it the same way :-)

Quote: kracker21

I was at Hinkley this afternoon and won about $200. We were going to pick up a free air matress but they were all gone when we got there so they gave us $40 each in free play.

That's been my experience with the Grands as well - they always run out of the promo items very early. I was going to discuss that in my post about Mille Lacs this evening. I probably still will...

State: Minnesota
City: Onamia
Casino: Grand Casino Mille Lacs

Today's chip of the day comes from Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia, MN. The casino opened in 1991, and has a 68,000 sqft gaming floor with 1,847 machines and 32 tables. The casino's history is very similar to that of the property in Hinckley - It's owned by the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwa Indians, and was managed by Grand Casinos before the tribe took management in-house in the late '90s when Grand was sold to Park Place (the tribe retained the naming rights to the Grand name in MN).

Onamia is a very small town. Mostly, it's a hospital, some local and fast food restaurants, a handful of gas stations, and numerous hotels, motels, resorts, and lodges on and around the south and west shores of Lake Mille Lacs. Mille Lacs is a huge lake, about 210 square miles. It's a big vacation area for hunting, fishing, golf, snow sports, and ice-fishing. The area made the national news this winter when a strange wind-sheer effect caused massive ice flowage and did major damage to lakefront structures (and to the fishing shacks that had been on the lake).

I collected my chip in the summer of 2007. I stopped at Mille Lacs on my way back to Minneapolis from the trip that had me visit Hinckley, Carlton, and Duluth. I believe that was my first visit to this property, though I may have stopped in to dine when I was in highschool. I remember we ate at a casino, don't remember which one, but this would make the most sense. The restaurants at Grand are very good, but not so good that it's worth trying to contain a bus full of kids when town is just a few miles away...

When I lived in Minneapolis, Grand Casino Mille Lacs was on my regular rotation of casinos to visit. They have truly great bounceback offers, state leading games (98% VP, .46% BJ), and a cashback + comps players club model that allows for meaningful actual accumulation of value in both categories. One drawback is that the casino is a solid 2 hour drive from Minneapolis. Another, which kracker21 mentioned regarding the Hinckley property, is that they almost always run out of the items in their physical item giveaways. And the replacement free play value is never quite at parity. For example, a couple years ago, they gave away Samsung digital cameras on some day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The flyer even said "MSRP $99." The redemption period was 9am-9pm. I went in the early afternoon, and they were out at 2pm. They gave me $50 in free play as a replacement. I won $22.50 on the freeplay. That didn't really equal the camera that I thought I'd be getting and using as an xmas gift. That's happened (albeit with less crappy luck on the freeplay suckout) many times since. Using Bob's theory that casinos don't actually lose money when they give away money, they may as well build goodwill by giving away the freeplay at a premium after running out of the promotional items.

For being sister properties, the Grand casinos have very different feels. Hinckley sort of pulls off a vegas-style big box feel, while Mille Lacs is done more in the style of a lodge. Both have issues: Hinckley's image is strong externally, but it feels cramped and ordinary inside; Mille Lacs does well inside, but the outside doesn't carry out the theme. Here's a picture of the outside of Mille Lacs.



My chip from Grand Casino Mille Lacs quite different from my chip from Hinckley. It's a Paulson RHC, bur it is chalky and somewhat dirty. The edge inserts are also different. The two chips are identical in color. Apparent differences in the pictures are due to color correction and lighting differences.

I was curious as to the proper pronunciation of "Onamia", at least which syllable had the primary emphasis, so I checked that ever-reliable Wikipedia. They report it as oh-NAYM-ee-ə. Do you agree?

The same article about the town claims that the 2010 census reported the population as 878. I think rdw's characterization of it as "a very small town" is appropriate. Wiki doesn't mention the hotels or restaurants there, not even the casino. It just points out as a possible local distinction, "It is the town nearest to Camp Onomia, a Lutheran summer camp." That comment, of course, reminded me of Garrison Keeler's stories of the folks around Lake Wobegon. I also wondered whether there is really a Camp Onomia near Onamia or a Wiki typo. It seems that Wiki may have indeed gotten the spelling correct.

Quote: Doc

I was curious as to the proper pronunciation of "Onamia", at least which syllable had the primary emphasis, so I checked that ever-reliable Wikipedia. They report it as oh-NAYM-ee-ə. Do you agree?

The same article about the town claims that the 2010 census reported the population as 878. I think rdw's characterization of it as "a very small town" is appropriate. Wiki doesn't mention the hotels or restaurants there, not even the casino. It just points out as a possible local distinction, "It is the town nearest to Camp Onomia, a Lutheran summer camp." That comment, of course, reminded me of Garrison Keeler's stories of the folks around Lake Wobegon. I also wondered whether there is really a Camp Onomia near Onamia or a Wiki typo. It seems that Wiki may have indeed gotten the spelling correct.

I agree that the accent is heavily on the second syllable. The casino is a bit north of town (the casino is on the reservation, the town is not) and many of the restaurants, lodges, etc., are on the highway. I'm not 100% sure that the highway is "in town" either.

State: Minnesota
City: Morton
Casino: Jackpot Junction

Today's chip of the day comes from the Jackpot Junction casino in Morton, MN. The casino opened as a bingo hall in 1984, and added other games in the '90s. The current incarnation of the facility has 1,250 machines and 33 tables on a 44,000 sqft gaming floor. The casino is located in Southwestern MN "in" the town of Morton which is the town on the reservation where the casino is located. The closest city is Redwood Falls, which is a few miles farther West.

Jackpot Junction has a couple very unique features. First, there is a line on the floor that delineates the hotel from the casino. The hotel side of the line is non-smoking, open to minors, and has a lotto sales stand. The casino side is the smoking area, and is 18+. I've been to other casinos where there's a delineation like this - you're on the boat or you aren't, etc. - but this is the only one I can think of that has a giant yellow spray-painted line. The second unique feature is that there is a very cool upstairs area that houses the poker room, 2 carny game tables, and a bar. It's like a loft, open to below, that is slightly separated from the rest of the casino.

I visited Jackpot Junction in the summer of 2010 to collect my chip. I'd been there twice before, but hadn't collected a chip. On my chip collection trip, I played with a very interesting dealer. I played 3 card poker in the loft area, and the poker room floorperson also oversees the two carny tables. The dealer was virtually unsupervised as a result. She was very nice, and she knew the game very well. But she had absolutely no idea what game protection was. I don't think she was intentionally cheating, but she initiated conversations about what each player was holding and she also flashed her entire pack of cards every time. She dealt like a little kid, lifting the cards in the easiest possible way which is also the least secure way every time. Even then, I barely won during my session. She was hot, and I was time constrained. I left up about $40 after 40 minutes of play with her. I haven't seen that dealer since. I kind of wonder if she was asked to move on...

Jackpot really doesn't have a clear theme. It's pretty much a generic slightly run-down rural midwestern casino. Here's a picture of the property:



My chip from Jackpot Junction is a Bud Jones chip with a metalic center section. Unlike some chips with metal centers, like the old Harrah's Marina chips, this one has a very cheap tinny feel to it. It's the same basic blank, but the centers have totally different qualities. I wonder if that's a function of the manufacturing process, or if it's an intentional difference like there are options for metal quality.

State: Minnesota
City: Prior Lake
Casino: Mystic Lake


Today's chip of the day comes from the Mystic Lake casino in Prior Lake, MN. Mystic Lake is an enterprise of the Mdewakanton band of Dakota Indians. That's M'DAY-wak-ahn-ton, though some also say med-WAK-ahn-ton. Ironically, mde wakan means "spiritual lake" and is a reference to Lake Mille Lacs, which is the tribe's historical home. Eventually, following conflicts and resettlements during the early days of Minnesota the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwa got their namesake lake, and the Mdewakanton Sioux got the Prior Lake area. There is now a "Mystic Lake" on the reservation near this casino. I'm not sure if that lake has any spiritual meaning. Mystic Lake is the largest and nicest casino in Minnesota, checking in at 150,000 sqft with 4000 slots and 100 tables. The casino also has several excellent restaurants, an above-average hotel, bingo, and a fantastic golf course. The tribe also operates a smaller casino, Little Six, a half mile from Mystic Lake. That casino uses the same chips as Mystic Lake, and I do not have a separate chip from that establishment.

The excellence of Mystic Lake combined with the location in the Minneapolis suburbs makes the tiny Mdewakanton tribe extremely wealthy. They're also very generous, pledging to donate at least 5% of their revenues to charity. That donation was $33MM in 2011. Of course, "charity" is interesting in this context. Past projects included: alcoholism education, domestic violence prevention, traditional history and language education, local and organic food production, subsidizing the poorer MN tribes, and rebuilding/repairing CasinOmaha and WinneVegas in Iowa.

Mystic Lake was my home casino when I lived in MN. There were a few years there when I was at the casino every day. Especially with the proximity (about 5 miles) to Canterbury park, it was very convenient. Mystic Lake has what I would argue is the best BJ game in Minnesota, and one of the better BJ games anywhere all-things-considered. Their "high limit" ($25) game is H17, DAS, RSA, late surrender. Food and drinks are free to rated players at the table, separate from any earned comps. I haven't played at Mystic since they started serving alcohol last fall, so I don't know if booze is included for free. But, milkshakes and fancy coffee drinks were allowed under the old system.

The casino is unique in that they have 100 tables and all of them are blackjack. Except for the surrender rule (only on a couple tables outside the HL room) and the $1 tables ($0.25 ante) all of the tables have identical rules. For the most part, I think Mystic Lake gets it right. Limits are low, tables are open, and people are playing. There's never any of those situations where a table is endlessly open and empty with a $15 or $25 min. A few years ago, maybe in 2007 or 2008, they closed several outlying pits and consolidated all the tables into one big pit (or, 4 pits all in one area. whatever). That let the casino both renovate one side of the floor and also create an area for new/fancy slots. Now, they've put up a couple new table games pits - one near the HL room with slightly higher limits ($10/$15 instead of $5/$10 mins) and one 4 table party pit near the novelty slot area.

Here's a picture of the property. It's interesting - there really is a giant teepee shaped light beacon.



My chip from Mystic Lake is a Bud Jones product. Based on my firsthand knowledge, this chip was in play from 1999-2012. But, it looks like a new style may may now be released. The MOGH shows a slightly different version that matches the $0.25 chip, which was itself just issued in 2012 when they put in the $1 game.

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

I believe they are the last place to offer the over/under 13 side bet on blackjack but watched it like flys on shit.

Yeah, that's true. But the number of tables with the sidebet are dwindling. It's not on their new felts, so as they replace the felt, the game goes away. I'm surprised they aren't replacing the bet with a less countable alternative, but maybe no other BJ sidebets are approved?

State: Minnesota
City: Granite Falls
Casino: Prairie's Edge

Today's chip of the day comes from the Prairie's Edge casino in Granite Falls, MN. Prairie's Edge is an enterprise of the Upper Sioux community. The casino has 960 slots and 7 tables on it's 52,000 sqft gaming floor. There is also a rather unique detached non-smoking area with 32 machines in the convenience store in the parkinglot. Granite Falls is a small town in western MN. It's on US 212, about 120 miles west of Minneapolis.

I think that, without considering comps (including Mystic Lake's unlimited free food), Prairie's edge has the best base BJ game in MN. S17, DAS, RSA, but no late surrender. I have not been to all of the casinos in Minnesota, but this is the only S17 table that I've encountered in the state. I really don't know whether I'd rather play H17 with surrender and free food and premium drinks, or whether I'd rather play S17 with no surrender or free food. Prairie's Edge has a great marketing department and a truly unique understanding of what they are and aren't. They've built a whole theme around being un-city. Ideally, they'd be a little closer to town to really make that work. But they've created a very fun and complete image as the folksy outstate underdog.

When I collected my chip, I played BJ for a while. The dealer was great. She dealt a great game, and we played beatles trivia the whole time. She was going to see Sir Paul in concert, and she just kept going and going with the trivia and info. This was the start of my day/evening coming off the rails, as I extracted myself from the table early enough to want to go to Dakota Sioux in Watertown, SD but late enough that I really shouldn't have gone to Dakota Sioux. Of course, I went and then went to Dakota Magic after that and then barely made it home.

Prairie's Edge doesn't have much of a theme other than the non-city thing. Mostly, there's just a big square casino with a Comfort Innish hotel attached:



My chip from Prairie's Edge is a Bud Jones product. The casino's logo is a stylized prairie grass bent over the casino's name written in script. I'm not sure if it's meant to be tongue-in-cheek or if it's just supposed to be pretty. There are also 3 bright circles on each side of the chip. At first I thought they were reflections back from my camera's flash, but they're also on each of the MOGH's specimens.

We have seen this Bud Jones chip design several time before, I think, including from the Trade Winds Escapade boat in Florida. While it took a while to be certain all of them were from Bud Jones, this one from Prairie's Edge treats us right by including the BJ logo just to the right of the denomination mark.

"Casino: Jackpot Junction"
"I visited Jackpot Junction in the summer of 2010 to collect my chip.
.....
I haven't seen that dealer since. "

Interesting story!
I am a little confused. You mean you visited this casino again after the 2010 trip?

Quote: pokerface

"Casino: Jackpot Junction"
"I visited Jackpot Junction in the summer of 2010 to collect my chip.
.....
I haven't seen that dealer since. "

Interesting story!
I am a little confused. You mean you visited this casino again after the 2010 trip?

After the visit in the summer of 2010, the casino gave a few decent bounceback offers. I visited a handful of times (pretty much once a month) in the Fall of 2010 and winter of 2011 before they realized that I was just taking the free play and cut me off. On each of those visits, I looked for this extra soft dealer but I never saw her again. I suppose those visits were infrequent enough that I could easily have just missed her.

State: Minnesota
City: Columbus
Casino: Running Aces

Today's chip of the day comes from the Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus, MN. Running Aces is primarily a horsetrack, but it also has about 25 table games and about 25 poker tables. The casino is located just north of the point where 35W and 35E converge in the outer ring suburbs north of Minneapolis. The location is pretty good, though the highway is often backed up right there as a result of the convergence of the two freeways. The property has had financial issues since it opened. The horsetrack wasn't too popular, and the tables haven't given the needed boost. They packaged a bankruptcy and sale a few years ago, and that seems to have made things better.

I don't think I mentioned this when I covered Canterbury Park, but that facility's ring games are all fixed limit. Running Aces has taken a contrasting approach by focusing on spread limit ring games. MN doesn't allow no-limit cash games, but the 2-60 game at Running Aces approximates no-limit play pretty well. In addition to poker, Running Aces also spreads PGP, baccarat, 3CP, 4CP, BJ, switch, MS Stud, UTH and something called Racing Card Derby. The casino lists their games and progressive jackpots on their website. I'm a little confused by that listing. They seem to have UTH and 4CP games by both SHFL and DEQ. I thought those were both patented SHFL games.

With the handy web listing, I visited Running Aces quite a bit when I was in MN. It's just so easy to see when to go and try to beat a + EV 3CP or 4CP game, it's hard to pass up. I suppose after dozens of days, hundreds of hours, and thousands of dollars without actually winning, maybe I should have just stopped trying. I don't think I've ever been to a casino with more comfortable chairs. It's a little thing, but they're really special. Padded leather seats, padded leather backs - it's almost hard to get up after playing.

The good at Running Aces is a little odd. There are two restaurants. One is a concession stand that sells stadium-style food (popcorn, nachos, hotdogs, etc) and the other is a surprisingly good buffet. There's no middle ground, and there's nowhere to get a decent quick bite.

Other than "somewhat modern and too high-end for a horsetrack," Running Aces really doesn't have a theme. Here's a picture of the property's entrance:



My chip from Running Aces is a Chipco product. It is one that does have a strategic white ring around the face. There's also a lot of visible wear. I'm not actually sure when I got this chip. My method has been to bring my chip back with me to try to "upgrade" to a less-worn version. I've traded it out a few times, and this was still the best I could do.

I think this is the only place in minnesota with EZ pai gow. They have three pai gow tables and one is EZ and two regular games that dont charge 5% on wins either so it does not make to much sense to play EZ there.

Quote: kracker21

I think this is the only place in minnesota with EZ pai gow. They have three pai gow tables and one is EZ and two regular games that dont charge 5% on wins either so it does not make to much sense to play EZ there.

I think you're right about both items. They're the only casino in MN that has EZ PGP, and they don't charge commission on their SHFL tables, either.

State: Minnesota
City: Red Wing
Casino: Treasure Island

Today's chip of the day comes from the Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Red Wing, MN. The casino opened in 1990, and makes a point of stressing that this makes them the "original" Treasure Island casino (preceding the opening of the Vegas property by 3 years). Treasure Island is operated by the Prairie Island Indian Community. The Prairie Island nuclear facility is a few hundred yards from this casino. The facility is on the Mississippi river about half way between Hastings and Red Wing, MN. The address is nominally in Red Wing. Red Wing is perhaps best known for being the home of the footwear company of the same name. Treasure Island is one of the larger casinos in MN, with 2,400 machines and 45 tables on its 150,000 sqft gaming floor.

Treasure Island has several rooms. In some ways, that's nice - some of them can be relatively smoke free - but it's also a bit more difficult to get around in than the usual big-square-room style casinos. Also, the ceilings are a bit low at Treasure Island making smoke an issue in most places. There are also some fun/unique aspects to the casino. There's a pretty good bowling alley and arcade on site, both of which are unusual for midwestern casinos. I've stayed at Treasure Island a couple times. I thought the rooms were large and comfortable, but even the non-smoking rooms are a bit stale. The comp system at Treasure Island is quite strong. Comps are earned separately for food and for cash/freeplay, and the accrual rate for both is quite fast. One annoying thing is that the food comps are only available in $5 increments, and the accrual for food comps resets daily.

I collected my chip from Treasure Island in the summer of 2007. It is one of the initial group of chips that I collected. I've since played at Treasure Island quite a bit. Their BJ game is decent, they used to have $1 MS Stud which was lots of fun, and their UTH table has a 9/7/4 trips paytable. None of Treasure Island's other games have a best-available paytable, and no other casinos in MN have a 9/7 paytable (they're 8/6/5). So there's really no reason for this table to have this payback, but it's sure nice that it does.

Treasure Island is a sprawling facility with a low-rise hotel. Here's a picture of the front of the casino. The giant white parrot is near the hotel entrance, and the casino entrance is on the far right:



My chip from Treasure Island is a Bud Jones product. It's the same style as the Prairie's Edge chip from 2 days ago. This chip is more pinkish-purple than red, with light pink edge markings. The center section is distinctly differently colored than the chip itself, and they don't go particularly well with each other.

So, on the risky assumption that the tribal casino is on reservation land, is the nuclear power plant on the reservation? That would seem a bit unusual.

As for the colors on the chip, the parrot's beak almost completely disappears into the red background. I think they should have illustrated it with a bright yellow beak for contrast, but then ornithology isn't really my thing.

Quote: Doc

So, on the risky assumption that the tribal casino is on reservation land, is the nuclear power plant on the reservation? That would seem a bit unusual.

Short answer, I don't know. Long answer: Google maps and common sense suggest that the plant is on indian land. But Wikipedia lists the plant as being adjacent to the reservation. The plant is between the casino and the rest of the reservation, so I don't personally see how wiki could be right.

Haven't commented in a while but I am still enjoying the thread, thanks for taking the time. Let me know when we get to Southern California Card Clubs, I believe I have them all covered.

Quote: bigfoot66

Let me know when we get to Southern California Card Clubs, I believe I have them all covered.

Great! I don't have any at all to post in that category, so it's good that someone may have some different chips to post in response when rdw4potus moves the thread to that topic. I think he is still hoping to complete his California collection before posting them.

As for me, I think I only have two chips now that haven't been posted, and I expect to add five more about a week from now. I'll post all those when the thread returns/gets to those states (NJ, NV, and MD.) I expect to add about ten more from NV to my collection in late September, but rdw has already covered those casinos with his $5 chips, so I'll just post my images all together at a convenient point.

Quote: bigfoot66

Haven't commented in a while but I am still enjoying the thread, thanks for taking the time. Let me know when we get to Southern California Card Clubs, I believe I have them all covered.

I'm missing two from SoCal: Bruce's in Blythe and Tommy's in El Centro. I don't know when/if I'll ever get those. Doc's right that I am/was hoping to get to Northern CA before posting additional chips from that state. Work/insanity is taking me to the midwest in a couple weeks, so I'll have to see how that trip goes before determining whether I can afford a trip to CA this fall. I'm going to post the proposed/tentative plan in a different thread. It's ambitious...

On a somewhat related note, I still haven't decided what state I'm moving to this evening. I was going to do IA, but it turns out that I haven't actually taken those pictures yet. I think that leaves OK and MI. Of the two, I'd rather discuss OK, but my MI collection is more complete (I'm missing 1 chip from a newly opened casino)

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

My guess is Four Winds Dowagiac.

yessir, that's the one. I hear I'm not missing much having not visited the property, but I stilll need the chip.

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Quote: rdw4potus

I'm missing two from SoCal: Bruce's in Blythe and Tommy's in El Centro. I don't know when/if I'll ever get those. Doc's right that I am/was hoping to get to Northern CA before posting additional chips from that state. Work/insanity is taking me to the midwest in a couple weeks, so I'll have to see how that trip goes before determining whether I can afford a trip to CA this fall. I'm going to post the proposed/tentative plan in a different thread. It's ambitious...

On a somewhat related note, I still haven't decided what state I'm moving to this evening. I was going to do IA, but it turns out that I haven't actually taken those pictures yet. I think that leaves OK and MI. Of the two, I'd rather discuss OK, but my MI collection is more complete (I'm missing 1 chip from a newly opened casino)

While Technically Blythe and El Centro are in the southern part of CA, those of us who live in Southern California think of those places as being more like Phoenix than LA or San Diego. I don't have those places either, but I think I have everything in San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura, and most of Riverside and San Bernadino covered. Do you have Diamond Jim's in Rosamond? If you went all the way out there you are close to being a degen ;)