Boot Hill Casino in Kansas

I was wondering if anyone else on this forum has played at the new casino in Dodge City, Kansas. It is actually owned by the state of Kansas, although run by a corporation. So far it's a pretty decent place, especially for being in a (at best) medium size town in the middle of nowhere. It's definitely much better than the Native American casinos that I've been to in Oklahoma. It's kind of small compared to Vegas casinos, but will expand in a year or so and is actually okay except on Fridays and Saturdays, when it's so busy you sometimes have to actually wait for a spot to open at a table.

Well, it looks like I'm the only person on this forum who has been there so far, so I thought I would give a few observations (I've already given some of these in posts about specific games and such, but I figured it might be better to put it all in one place for anyone thinking about stopping by on a trip through the center of the nation or anything like that.)

Currently, according to their website, they have over 580 slot machines. I don't play slots, so I can't tell you a whole lot about them. I have noticed penny, nickle, quarter, and dollar slots. Not sure if there's anything higher than $1 or not, but I'll try to look the next time I go. Around 15-20 of the machines are multi-game video poker machines. They have the option of using eith 25 cents, 50 cents, or a dollar as the denomination on these machines, and they include jacks or better, wild 2s, bonus, double bonus, double double bonus, and I think 1 or 2 others also. I'll try to get the exact paytable the next time I go too, I've only played these a couple of times.

As for table games, they have blackjack, roulette, craps, Pai Gow Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, and 3 Card Poker. There are only 12-13 table total. 1 table is roulette, 1 is craps, 1 is Ultimate, 1 is 3 Card, 1 is Pai Gow, and the rest are blackjack. Ultimate, 3 Card, and Roulette seem to always have $5 minimums, and Ultimate and 3 Card have $50 maximums. I think Roulette is the same, but I'll have to check next time to be sure. Craps has $5 minimums most of the time, but will go up to $10 on weekend nights at least (haven't been there during the day, so don't know if it changes then or not.) I think Pai Gow is usually $5 minimum too, but will double check next time. Blackjack usually has 2 $5 tables, 1-2 $10 tables, and a $25 table open every night. On weeknights that might be it, with the others not even open. On weekends every table is open, and there will be a couple of $15 tables too. The rules in blackjack are that the dealer hits soft 17, blackjack pays 3 to 2, unlimited splitting seems to be allowed (I've seen up to 4 times, and have seen one person split aces 3 times), no double downs after splitting, and double downs on any 2 cards. The paytable for the pair plus in 3 card and trips in Ultimate are not the best available, but the casino has no competition at all for at least a 200 mile radius, so they have no incentive to try to draw customers with better rules. Craps is always 3 times odds.

They also have 1 or 2 poker tables in the saloon for Texas Hold' Em. Haven't been in there yet, so I'm not sure if it's limit or no limit.

They are still building this resort, and the hotel is not done yet. They are supposed to add the hotel, a day spa, and double the casino space. They currently have 1 fairly nice restaurant, a snack bar, the saloon, and a small store for souvenirs. They are supposed to add 2 more restaurants and lounges. There is also a very nice golf course very close to the casino. It is supposed to be totally done within another year or so.

They do have a player's club, but I'm not sure what you get from that yet. I have joined it. At table games they only seem to be writing down my buy-ins, so I'm not sure how I'm being rated. You do put the card in a slot on the machines. Since there is no hotel yet, I don't know what possible rewards might be available other than meals at the restaurants and merchandise from the store.

As I mentioned above, it gets so busy on weekend nights (Friday and Saturday) that you sometimes have to wait for a place to open at a table. Weeknights aren't nearly as busy, and it's not uncommon to only see 2-4 people playing craps at 10 pm on those nights, and they will close the craps table by midnight to 1 am depending on the number of players.

There's really a Dodge City?

Yes, there's really a Dodge City. Wyatt Earp really was a lawman there at one time, and one of the main streets in the city is named after him. There is a Boot Hill Museum, and the casino if obviously named Boot Hill too. They are currently in the middle of Dodge City Days, which will have a huge pro rodeo this weekend. I live 120 miles almost straight south in a little town in the Texas Panhandle called Darrouzett. The casino is the first of a series of casinos that will be opened in Kansas and are actually owned by the Kansas Lottery Commission and run by various corporations. (Or at least the games are owned by the state, I'm still not sure exactly how that works but there are signs all over the place saying the Kansas Lottery Commission is the owner.)

I went to the casino again last Friday (in case some of you think it's odd that I would drive that far to gamble, keep in mind that in Texas people drive 2-3 hours, or more, for a good high school football game, and some not so good) and had a very good night. I ended up winning about $200 in craps and $150 in 3 Card. I basically broke even at blackjack and Ultimate (I was up $100 in Ultimate at one point, and then had a hot dealer that I just can't seem to beat take over the table. I have decided that I will not be playing against him again.) So I ended up with a $350 win for the night, which puts me back in the plus column for this casino over all by about $150. I know that's probably not much for many of you, but for me that's very good. I plan to take my winnings back sometime this weekend and see if I can build them up some more.

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Dodge City, Kansas was the setting for the great (imo) western tv show "Gunsmoke"

the image below is the real Dodge City, Kansas in 1874

I'd love for somebody to tell me what that device is on top of the roof of Long Branch Saloon - I won't hold my breath

in the TV show Boot Hill was the location of a large graveyard where the hero, Matt Dillon, spoke the opening words to each show


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Quote: lilredrooster

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(Snip)
I'd love for somebody to tell me what that device is on top of the roof of Long Branch Saloon - I won't hold my breath
(Snip)



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link to original post

After zooming in a bit, It looks like a “bovine “ head to me.

At first glance, it looked a bit like a satellite dish.
But it was about 100 years too early for that (unless Dr Emmett Brown lived there).

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Sent from phone

Quote: ksdjdj

Quote: lilredrooster

___________
(Snip)
I'd love for somebody to tell me what that device is on top of the roof of Long Branch Saloon - I won't hold my breath
(Snip)



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link to original post

After zooming in a bit, It looks like a “bovine “ head to me.

At first glance, it looked a bit like a satellite dish.
But it was about 100 years too early for that (unless Dr Emmett Brown lived there).

—
Sent from phone
link to original post

thanks - great answer - I'm sure you're right


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