Chicagoland casino trip, day 2
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May 29th, 2010 at 6:32:34 PM
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After an event filled night at the Econolodge in Milwaukee, I headed back south to IL for a day of driving and gaming.
Grand Victoria Casino, Elgin, IL (10am): I arrived at the Grand Victoria at about 10 am. The casino is not open 24 hours, and I didn't check the hours before arriving so I made sure I was late enough for it to have opened for the day before arriving. I expected some sort of breakfast/light fare, but the only restaurant I could find that was open at 10 was the diner/cafe. They were serving burgers and hotdogs. I decided to play first and then eat. I joined Club Victoria, and there were no freebies. The line was McDonalds Style, but there was no wait. I think they might put up the Wendy's cordons later in the day, as there were some retracted and stowed by the wall.
All casinos in IL are smoke free. There is a statewide smoking ban, and they're commercial casinos so there are no tribal waivers like in MN (my home state). Unfortunately, the tradeoff to the clean air seems to be bad games. Craps was offered at $10 with 1x odds only. BJ rules were stingy (H17, no DAS, RSA was offered, but no late surrender. BJ paid 3:2). The only carnival games I could find were TCP and UTH. Of the two, I prefer TCP. The HA is higher, but the variance is lower. Since this was my first stop of the day, I went for bankroll preservation and sat at the TCP table. The dealer was cordial and polite. He was a music buff, and we played name that tune with the casino's selections. The game itself was nothing special. I got lucky and hit a winning straight on my last hand to get back to down $50. I colored up at about 1130 and grabbed a bacon cheeseburger from the cafe. The beef was excellent, but I'm not sure if they did anything more than warm the bacon. It was quite raw.
Hollywood Casino, Aurora, IL (12pm): I arrived at the Hollywood casino in Aurora at shortly after noon. Their parking lot was excellent, and I was able to park very near the door. The casino was almost deserted. I had joined Club Hollywood at the related property in Lawrenceberg, IN in March, but they couldn't find me in the system on saturday so they signed me up again. That resulted in me receiving a new $20 free slot play coupon. I played played 7 pulls in a $3 WOF and literally won nothing. Like the Grand Victoria, Hollywood's rules were stingy. I forgot to look at the craps tables, but the BJ rules were the same as at GV. Again, I sat at a TCP table. The minimum was only $5, which I decided fit my pace for the middle of the trip. I noticed that the PP paid 6/4, so I bet that occasionally as well. After an hour, I was up $10. I tipped the dealer the $10 and headed on my way.
Empress Casino, Joliet, IL (1:45pm): The Empress didn't...ummm...impress. It was old, kind of run down, and it was only about half open even by 2 when I got there. I was under the impression that they'd remodeled after their fire, but it sure didn't seem like things were redone anytime recently. The club counter wasn't open, so I couldn't join the players club. The line would have been wendy's style if it were available. The pit with the carnival games was closed. There was only one craps table open, and that only had 2 players. I wound up getting my play in by sitting at a BJ table. I found a 4 deck table for $25/hand. That was more than I wanted to play, but I figured it was worth it to cut down from 8 decks to 4. I caught a bit of a hot streak (in a negative count, too. it was pretty awesome), and got up $337.50. Unless the building is on fire, I will not enter or leave mid-shoe, so I stuck around for a few more hands. The shoe ended with 5 consecutive hands with 20 or more for the dealer, and I lost them all. I cashed out up $150 for the session. Oddly, the line at the cashier was McDonalds style.
Harrah's Casino, Joliet, IL (2:30): When I got to Harrah's, it became clear why no one was at the Empress. It can't hold a candle to Harrah's. The boat was beautiful, the tables were active, and everything was open. I'm already a Total Rewards member, so I skipped the club desk visit (though I noticed the line was McDonalds style) and went right to the TCP table. PP was 6/3, so I didn't play it. Of course I hit a straight flush 3 hands in... I bought in for $100 and busted out after about 45 minutes, so I didn't have a reason to visit the cashier.
Hammond Horseshoe, Hammond, IN (3:30): This one is another Harrah's property, and it's kind of in the ghetto. And by kind of in the Ghetto, I mean "I almost parked Valet just to not have to walk alone outside at all." I walked past the club line and cashier on my way into the casino. Both lines were Wendy's style, which is good because both were also very long. I had the chips that CallmeBufo mailed to me, so I had my stake set for the afternoon. I sat at the PGP table. The dealer was both new and condescending. At first I tried to help her out, but after a while I just took advantage of the situation. She kept splitting low low and low middle two pairs even when she had an ace. I left when the dealer changed, and I was down $50. Turns out there's no way to overcome dealer errors with 10 high paigows. I had two in 3 hands (sandwiching a full house with a pair).
Ameristar Casino, Gary, IN (4:15): I think I trust my GPS too much sometimes. IN 912 is closed for maintenance. I kept telling my GPS that I needed a detour. It kept giving me alternate ways to get to IN912. It sent me on a circle through tollways, then put me in the middle of the Mittal steel plant. I finally found my way through the plant's "streets" to the casino (it really was quite close), but what should have been a 15 minute drive took 45. I parked, went inside, joined the players club, and wandered around for a bit. I needed to cool off from the drive over before I risked my money. I'd received $40 in slot play for joining the players club (it was a promo related to a free car giveaway, double the usual amount), and I decided to play that through before thinking about playing table games. Sticking with the high denomination idea and disappointed by my WOF experience earlier, I decided to play a "Red Hottie Sevens" game for $10/pull. It's a $1 3 line game, but for $10 you can play the "bonus game." In the bonus, there is a simulated dice roll, and the number indicates your outcome. 1-3 is a loss, 4-6 initiate bonus games. My third roll was a 6, which started a deal-or-no-deal type game. I rejected $20, $15, and $25 before accepting a final offer of $500. Major Score!!
Armed with my newly found free money, and buzzing from my first drink of caffeine in 6 months, I found the PGP tables and sat at one. The dealer might have been the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. Think Angelina Jolie, but less edgy. Anyway, between her, the money, and the caffeine, I kept messing up. I'm very lucky that they're a loose shop. I set a pair of 3s with Q10 and looked right through the club flush that was also there. They let me reset the hand. Then I flipped my pai gow and fortune bets, and they let me reverse them. I finally got so flustered and embarassed that I colored up and left. I was even (still up the $500 from the slots win). Both the players club and cashiers cage lines were McDonalds style, but there was never a wait while I was watching.
Majestic Star, East Chicago, IN (5:10): The Majestic Star is maaaaaybe 5 miles from the Ameristar, but the road between them is closed. I had to go all the way down to the interstate and all the way back up to the Majestic star. At least I didn't trust the GPS on that one...
I joined the players club (Wendy's style line), and went to find food. I don't usually go for casino buffets, but Majestic's was only $12.95 so tried it. It was interesting. Their chef isn't afraid to experament. That eliminates the phenomenon where all buffet food tastes the same, but it also created some options that I just did not care for. All in all, the selection was good, with 4 different stations (not counting desserts and salads). I would say the buffet was worth the $13, but not much more than that.
After eating, I went ISO the PGP tables. They used a different felt than the others that I'd stopped at thus far, and it was a nice change of pace. Their felt is the version with Wizard's bonus (same structure as Fortune bonus...is Fortune Bonus a Shufflemaster copyright?) and Pai Gow insurance. I didn't play either sidebet for myself (the dealer asked me to play the Wizard's for her tip. she hit trips on a $10 bet.). I was down about $100 after 30 minutes and decided to move on. The cashier's cage line was VERY long on both sides of the boat. I found out later that the ticket cashing machines were not functioning. Lines were Wendy's style, but they kept taking high-level players club players at any cashier and not just at the special one. So, the only time that regular people got to cash out was when nobody was in the special line. That sucked.
Blue Chips, Michigan City, IN (8:00) Blue Chips is a Boyd property, and the B-Connected players club card is accepted. It is also a resort with a spa. The hotel tower is very tall, and all glass. I walked into a parked car while looking at the reflection of the setting sun in the hotel's windows. The alarm went off.
The vibe at Blue Chips wasn't my style, and it was VERY busy, so I didn't stay long at all. It had very much of a night club atmosphere. The music was club/electronica and not at all the usual generic rock/pop that you hear at casinos. All lines were McDonalds style, but with a manager guaging wait times and directing people into the "optimal" line. He was right when he directed me, but also misjudged a few times. I decided to try Crazy 4 poker. MN has 4 card poker in several casinos/cardrooms, but not Crazy. I found it too hard to adjust from one set of rules to the other and lost my patience after about 15 minutes.
Four Winds Casino, New Buffalo, MI (9pm): Four Winds was very nice. Smoking was allowed, but I never even caught a whiff of it. I joined the players club and spun my $5 free play through a $.25 VP machine. I didn't even realize the guy next to me was smoking until he asked if I wanted one. MI is a state with progressive table games jackpots. I based my play on the state of the progressives. The LIR game at Four Winds had a jackpot of $180K when I was there. The paytable for the bonus was similar to the paytable for the progressive at my home casino, where I know the breakeven to be $170K. I sat down at the LIR table. After about 2 hours, I was a little down. I'd been way down, then hit pocket trips with a paired board to come all the way back to within about $50 of even. I lost back down to $100 down and colored up. The players club and cashier both had McDonalds style lines, and both were quite busy.
I arrived at my hotel in Battle Creek at about 2am.
Grand Victoria Casino, Elgin, IL (10am): I arrived at the Grand Victoria at about 10 am. The casino is not open 24 hours, and I didn't check the hours before arriving so I made sure I was late enough for it to have opened for the day before arriving. I expected some sort of breakfast/light fare, but the only restaurant I could find that was open at 10 was the diner/cafe. They were serving burgers and hotdogs. I decided to play first and then eat. I joined Club Victoria, and there were no freebies. The line was McDonalds Style, but there was no wait. I think they might put up the Wendy's cordons later in the day, as there were some retracted and stowed by the wall.
All casinos in IL are smoke free. There is a statewide smoking ban, and they're commercial casinos so there are no tribal waivers like in MN (my home state). Unfortunately, the tradeoff to the clean air seems to be bad games. Craps was offered at $10 with 1x odds only. BJ rules were stingy (H17, no DAS, RSA was offered, but no late surrender. BJ paid 3:2). The only carnival games I could find were TCP and UTH. Of the two, I prefer TCP. The HA is higher, but the variance is lower. Since this was my first stop of the day, I went for bankroll preservation and sat at the TCP table. The dealer was cordial and polite. He was a music buff, and we played name that tune with the casino's selections. The game itself was nothing special. I got lucky and hit a winning straight on my last hand to get back to down $50. I colored up at about 1130 and grabbed a bacon cheeseburger from the cafe. The beef was excellent, but I'm not sure if they did anything more than warm the bacon. It was quite raw.
Hollywood Casino, Aurora, IL (12pm): I arrived at the Hollywood casino in Aurora at shortly after noon. Their parking lot was excellent, and I was able to park very near the door. The casino was almost deserted. I had joined Club Hollywood at the related property in Lawrenceberg, IN in March, but they couldn't find me in the system on saturday so they signed me up again. That resulted in me receiving a new $20 free slot play coupon. I played played 7 pulls in a $3 WOF and literally won nothing. Like the Grand Victoria, Hollywood's rules were stingy. I forgot to look at the craps tables, but the BJ rules were the same as at GV. Again, I sat at a TCP table. The minimum was only $5, which I decided fit my pace for the middle of the trip. I noticed that the PP paid 6/4, so I bet that occasionally as well. After an hour, I was up $10. I tipped the dealer the $10 and headed on my way.
Empress Casino, Joliet, IL (1:45pm): The Empress didn't...ummm...impress. It was old, kind of run down, and it was only about half open even by 2 when I got there. I was under the impression that they'd remodeled after their fire, but it sure didn't seem like things were redone anytime recently. The club counter wasn't open, so I couldn't join the players club. The line would have been wendy's style if it were available. The pit with the carnival games was closed. There was only one craps table open, and that only had 2 players. I wound up getting my play in by sitting at a BJ table. I found a 4 deck table for $25/hand. That was more than I wanted to play, but I figured it was worth it to cut down from 8 decks to 4. I caught a bit of a hot streak (in a negative count, too. it was pretty awesome), and got up $337.50. Unless the building is on fire, I will not enter or leave mid-shoe, so I stuck around for a few more hands. The shoe ended with 5 consecutive hands with 20 or more for the dealer, and I lost them all. I cashed out up $150 for the session. Oddly, the line at the cashier was McDonalds style.
Harrah's Casino, Joliet, IL (2:30): When I got to Harrah's, it became clear why no one was at the Empress. It can't hold a candle to Harrah's. The boat was beautiful, the tables were active, and everything was open. I'm already a Total Rewards member, so I skipped the club desk visit (though I noticed the line was McDonalds style) and went right to the TCP table. PP was 6/3, so I didn't play it. Of course I hit a straight flush 3 hands in... I bought in for $100 and busted out after about 45 minutes, so I didn't have a reason to visit the cashier.
Hammond Horseshoe, Hammond, IN (3:30): This one is another Harrah's property, and it's kind of in the ghetto. And by kind of in the Ghetto, I mean "I almost parked Valet just to not have to walk alone outside at all." I walked past the club line and cashier on my way into the casino. Both lines were Wendy's style, which is good because both were also very long. I had the chips that CallmeBufo mailed to me, so I had my stake set for the afternoon. I sat at the PGP table. The dealer was both new and condescending. At first I tried to help her out, but after a while I just took advantage of the situation. She kept splitting low low and low middle two pairs even when she had an ace. I left when the dealer changed, and I was down $50. Turns out there's no way to overcome dealer errors with 10 high paigows. I had two in 3 hands (sandwiching a full house with a pair).
Ameristar Casino, Gary, IN (4:15): I think I trust my GPS too much sometimes. IN 912 is closed for maintenance. I kept telling my GPS that I needed a detour. It kept giving me alternate ways to get to IN912. It sent me on a circle through tollways, then put me in the middle of the Mittal steel plant. I finally found my way through the plant's "streets" to the casino (it really was quite close), but what should have been a 15 minute drive took 45. I parked, went inside, joined the players club, and wandered around for a bit. I needed to cool off from the drive over before I risked my money. I'd received $40 in slot play for joining the players club (it was a promo related to a free car giveaway, double the usual amount), and I decided to play that through before thinking about playing table games. Sticking with the high denomination idea and disappointed by my WOF experience earlier, I decided to play a "Red Hottie Sevens" game for $10/pull. It's a $1 3 line game, but for $10 you can play the "bonus game." In the bonus, there is a simulated dice roll, and the number indicates your outcome. 1-3 is a loss, 4-6 initiate bonus games. My third roll was a 6, which started a deal-or-no-deal type game. I rejected $20, $15, and $25 before accepting a final offer of $500. Major Score!!
Armed with my newly found free money, and buzzing from my first drink of caffeine in 6 months, I found the PGP tables and sat at one. The dealer might have been the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. Think Angelina Jolie, but less edgy. Anyway, between her, the money, and the caffeine, I kept messing up. I'm very lucky that they're a loose shop. I set a pair of 3s with Q10 and looked right through the club flush that was also there. They let me reset the hand. Then I flipped my pai gow and fortune bets, and they let me reverse them. I finally got so flustered and embarassed that I colored up and left. I was even (still up the $500 from the slots win). Both the players club and cashiers cage lines were McDonalds style, but there was never a wait while I was watching.
Majestic Star, East Chicago, IN (5:10): The Majestic Star is maaaaaybe 5 miles from the Ameristar, but the road between them is closed. I had to go all the way down to the interstate and all the way back up to the Majestic star. At least I didn't trust the GPS on that one...
I joined the players club (Wendy's style line), and went to find food. I don't usually go for casino buffets, but Majestic's was only $12.95 so tried it. It was interesting. Their chef isn't afraid to experament. That eliminates the phenomenon where all buffet food tastes the same, but it also created some options that I just did not care for. All in all, the selection was good, with 4 different stations (not counting desserts and salads). I would say the buffet was worth the $13, but not much more than that.
After eating, I went ISO the PGP tables. They used a different felt than the others that I'd stopped at thus far, and it was a nice change of pace. Their felt is the version with Wizard's bonus (same structure as Fortune bonus...is Fortune Bonus a Shufflemaster copyright?) and Pai Gow insurance. I didn't play either sidebet for myself (the dealer asked me to play the Wizard's for her tip. she hit trips on a $10 bet.). I was down about $100 after 30 minutes and decided to move on. The cashier's cage line was VERY long on both sides of the boat. I found out later that the ticket cashing machines were not functioning. Lines were Wendy's style, but they kept taking high-level players club players at any cashier and not just at the special one. So, the only time that regular people got to cash out was when nobody was in the special line. That sucked.
Blue Chips, Michigan City, IN (8:00) Blue Chips is a Boyd property, and the B-Connected players club card is accepted. It is also a resort with a spa. The hotel tower is very tall, and all glass. I walked into a parked car while looking at the reflection of the setting sun in the hotel's windows. The alarm went off.
The vibe at Blue Chips wasn't my style, and it was VERY busy, so I didn't stay long at all. It had very much of a night club atmosphere. The music was club/electronica and not at all the usual generic rock/pop that you hear at casinos. All lines were McDonalds style, but with a manager guaging wait times and directing people into the "optimal" line. He was right when he directed me, but also misjudged a few times. I decided to try Crazy 4 poker. MN has 4 card poker in several casinos/cardrooms, but not Crazy. I found it too hard to adjust from one set of rules to the other and lost my patience after about 15 minutes.
Four Winds Casino, New Buffalo, MI (9pm): Four Winds was very nice. Smoking was allowed, but I never even caught a whiff of it. I joined the players club and spun my $5 free play through a $.25 VP machine. I didn't even realize the guy next to me was smoking until he asked if I wanted one. MI is a state with progressive table games jackpots. I based my play on the state of the progressives. The LIR game at Four Winds had a jackpot of $180K when I was there. The paytable for the bonus was similar to the paytable for the progressive at my home casino, where I know the breakeven to be $170K. I sat down at the LIR table. After about 2 hours, I was a little down. I'd been way down, then hit pocket trips with a paired board to come all the way back to within about $50 of even. I lost back down to $100 down and colored up. The players club and cashier both had McDonalds style lines, and both were quite busy.
I arrived at my hotel in Battle Creek at about 2am.
"So as the clock ticked and the day passed, opportunity met preparation, and luck happened." - Maurice Clarett
May 30th, 2010 at 7:20:18 AM
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I used to live up in the area, and Harrah's Joliet and Empress used to offer one of the best blackjack games around.
Rules: S17, RSA, DAS, no late surrender, 3:2. This was on ALL tables too. Did you notice if they still offer that? Harrah's writing on the felt said "Dealer must stand on all 17s" as opposed to the traditional "Dealer must draw to 16 and stand on 17"
Rules: S17, RSA, DAS, no late surrender, 3:2. This was on ALL tables too. Did you notice if they still offer that? Harrah's writing on the felt said "Dealer must stand on all 17s" as opposed to the traditional "Dealer must draw to 16 and stand on 17"
"One out of every four people are [morons]"- Kyle, South Park
May 30th, 2010 at 8:47:09 AM
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What I saw open were all H17 tables. I did not venture to the high limit area to see if things were better there. I also did not read the felt on the closed tables. I was at these casinos quite early in the day, and about 1/3 of the tables were open. If I was the casino and I could only have a portion of my tables open (and even then, only partly used), I'd have the ones with the rules most favorable to me.
"So as the clock ticked and the day passed, opportunity met preparation, and luck happened." - Maurice Clarett
May 30th, 2010 at 9:11:10 AM
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I kind of figured that's where they were going. All the rest of the casinos, Indiana included, hit soft seventeen. I haven't been up to the area in about two years, but even when Horseshoe reopened in '08, Harrah's and Empress still offered that great BJ game, Empress often at a $10 min.
"One out of every four people are [morons]"- Kyle, South Park
