Planning for casino trip to Argentina and Uruguay

I'm very likely to go to Buenos Aires sometime during the summer season south of the equator (Nov-Jan). I received a lot of compliments about my material and stories I came back with from Panama so a major reason for the trip will be to report on the gambling scene in Argentina and neighboring Uruguay.

Unlike say Las Vegas or Monte Carlo, Argentina doesn't have a dedicated gambling city, but all major cities will generally have a casino or two. Kind of like Australia. At this point I'm trying to come up with a rough itinerary for about 10-14 day trip. Here is some cities I'm thinking of hitting. My source of most information is the World' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/argentina/tigre#LIST]World Casino Directory. By way of comparison on the table game counts, the MGM Grand has 178.

Buenos Aires

I'm going here for sure. According to the World Casino Directory BA has two casinos:

Puerto' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.cirsagaming.com/]Puerto Madera (wood port). 117 table games. Managed by Cirsa Gaming

Trilenium' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.trileniumcasino.com.ar/]Trilenium Casino. This is actually in the city of Tigre, which seems to be on the northern outskirts of the larger BA area. 74 table games. I don't know who runs it.

Mar del Plata (Sea of Silver/Money)

In Spanish plata can mean silver or money, I'm not sure which the name refers to. The city is a major seaside resort. I hear it is very crowded in the summer and a bit run down. My Lonely Planet book seems to think it is too touristy and didn't seem to say much nice about it. It is about 400 km south of Buenos Aires and lots of buses run there from BA. I hear the long-distance buses in Argentina are quite nice.

Casino Mar del Plata: I hear this is the largest casino in South America, and was the largest in the world at one time. 138 Table Games. Managed by: ?

Casino Hermitage. 5 Table Games. Managed by: ?

Iguazu Falls

This is a city near the largest waterfalls in South America, which I hear put Niagara Falls to shame. In Moonraker, James Bond flew over them in a hang glider. It will require a flight from BA as they are located in northern Argentina. They are located at the intersection of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, so I can at least claim to have set foot in two more countries, and another province on the Risk board.

There is only one casino I'm aware of, in the Argentine city of Iguazu Falls, the Iguazu Grand. The web site says is has 34 table games. I don't know who runs it.

Punta del Este, Uruguay

I've heard this is a nice, yet expensive, beach city. It should be a short flight form BA, or a long bus/train trip. It has two casinos:

Conrad.' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.conrad.com.uy/2011/index.aspx]Conrad. 74 table games. This one is operated by Harrah's (Caesars Entertainment). I'm not sure how much that will matter. For what it is worth, the Wynn and MGM Grand in Macau have almost nothing to do with their counterparts in Vegas, for purposes of the guest visiting. Comps do not carry over, and they are almost entirely separately managed.

Casino Nogaro: 10 table games.

What is the point of this post? I guess to fish for advice for anyone who has been to the area. If I can't visit both Mar del Plata and Iguazu Falls, which should I eliminate? Any city I should add to the list? Non-gambling things to do in any of the cities mentioned? Keep in mind this is a short trip and I don't want to spread myself too thin.

Sorry, I ain't well traveled at all. However I do think you might want to allow some extra time for that Harah's luxury casino, Conrad.
Take particular note of the security situation at the hotel and as I understand it, you will find the deck of playing cards to have small Aarabic numerals in the corner designating their value and graphic designs that are well known there but probably not well known in the USA. If you attempt Blackjack with those cards you may have an adventure at first. For instance a "10" will have a very small and faint Arabic 10 in the corner, but it will not have ten pips on it, indeed it will not have any pips on it at all. It will have the figure of some woman with a spear or something. Good Luck... or should I say Buena Suerte?

In my day, a hotel manager would come running out if a tourist was seen attempting to leave the hotel wearing a wrist watch since Buenos Aires was riddled with two man teams on motor scooters. The man in front drove, the man in back wielded a machete and took the watch off the severed wrist. Fortunately, I've heard things are quite different now. I do so hope I've heard correctly.

I'll repeat some advice I gave you on another occasion:

1) Do not ever utter the word "Falklands"

2) Do not insult God, or as He is known in Argentina, Diego Maradona.

Oh, and "puertO" means port, as in a palce where ships loand and unload cargo and passengers. "PuertA" on the other hand, means door.

Mar de Plata is the name of a region within Argentina. I've no idea what it refers to, or whether any mining took place there.

I am likely going to Argentina in March, mostly for a conference in Buenos Aires. I think if I have time for one excursion, all have told me it should be the Falls. I will be awaiting your report.

Quote: Nareed

Do not ever utter the word "Falklands"

Malvinas, I believe.

Quote: FleaStiff

as I understand it, you will find the deck of playing cards to have small Aarabic numerals in the corner designating their value and graphic designs that are well known there but probably not well known in the USA. If you attempt Blackjack with those cards you may have an adventure at first. For instance a "10" will have a very small and faint Arabic 10 in the corner, but it will not have ten pips on it, indeed it will not have any pips on it at all. It will have the figure of some woman with a spear or something. Good Luck... or should I say Buena Suerte?

The baraja deck. Amusingly, I have two such decks within easy grasp of where I'm sitting right now. Has absolutely nothing to do with the "Spanish deck" used in Spanish 21, a game which is totally unheard of in Latin America as far as I'm aware.

Baraja decks are used for a number of games, but the one that immediately comes to mind for me is Briscas, which is similar to Casino War. Very very easy to pick up even if you've never played it before.

Quote: Wizard

Punta del Este, Uruguay I've heard this is a nice, yet expensive, beach city. It should be a short flight form BA, or a long bus/train trip. It has two casinos:

Punta del Este was one of the most exclusive vacation destinations in the world at one time. I think it has come down a peg or two, but it still has very expensive traps. I suspect the girls will be much more shark like than in Panama City.

You will be going to "La Boca" I assume.

The casino in Mar del Plata is called Central Casino and is huge.
Its worth the trip just to see it.

Quote: EvenBob

The casino in Mar del Plata is called Central Casino and is huge.

I think the hotel portion of the building is huge, but the casino portion is much smaller than the two casinos in Buenos Aires.

Here is another good site on Argentina casinos. Here are some facts of those casinos under consideration.

City	Casino	Sq. Feet	Slots
Buenos Aires	Puerto Madero	159000	1500
Buenos Aires (Tigre)	Trilenium	180000	1900
Mar del Plata	Central	42000	630
Mar del Plata	Del Mar	15800	256
Iguazu City	Iguazu Grand	41000	198

Based on this, I am probably going to chop Mar del Plata from my itinerary. I was spreading myself too thin anyway.

Quote: Wizard

I think the hotel portion of the building is huge, but the casino portion is much smaller than the two casinos in Buenos Aires.

Here is another good site on Argentina casinos. Here are some facts of those casinos under consideration.

City	Casino	Sq. Feet	Slots
Buenos Aires	Puerto Madero	159000	1500
Buenos Aires (Tigre)	Trilenium	180000	1900
Mar del Plata	Central	42000	630
Mar del Plata	Del Mar	15800	256
Iguazu City	Iguazu Grand	41000	198

Based on this, I am probably going to chop Mar del Plata from my itinerary. I was spreading myself too thin anyway.

Good choice. You wouldn't want to cut out the waterfall. As it is about 15 hours overland, I must assume you are flying up there.

Quote: pacomartin

Good choice. You wouldn't want to cut out the waterfall. As it is about 15 hours overland, I must assume you are flying up there.

Yes, I was planning to fly. Hopefully I can take a triangular trip between Buenos Aires, Iguazu, and Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Nice picture. Hopefully the weather will be that nice while I'm there. I hear a lot of days are cloudy.

6.4 magnitude earthquake recently in Buenos Aires. Have you considered evacuation insurance? It will pay to get you home in the event of an emergency, even if it means hiring a dog sled, catching a ride on a de-commissioned Russian nuclear sub, and chartering a helicopter.

Quote: Ayecarumba

6.4 magnitude earthquake recently in Buenos Aires. Have you considered evacuation insurance? It will pay to get you home in the event of an emergency, even if it means hiring a dog sled, catching a ride on a de-commissioned Russian nuclear sub, and chartering a helicopter.

Part of South america are seismically active. Most of the heavy damages, though, for some reason take palce in Chile. As far as I know no Argentine cities ahve been leveled or heavily damaged by quakes. besides, it's hurricane season, not quake season ;)

Ok. Seriously there's no quake season.

Anwyay, I'd worry about how sound the buildings are overall. I wasn't home when teh Big One hit in 1985, but from all I've heard the worse thing outside the badly affected areas was the alck of a telephone system and bad water. Traffic was bad, but you could get around and the gas supplies were not distrupted. The airport operated normally, but many flights were delayed or cancelled due to increased activity by relief agencies.

But then I'm used to quakes. Had I been home in 85 I'd have been safe. had the Wizard been here in 85, or any of you for that mater, odds are better than 99.99% you'd have been safe and able to leave for home within a day or two. Scared, sure, but pretty much undamaged.

Quote: Ayecarumba

6.4 magnitude earthquake recently in Buenos Aires. Have you considered evacuation insurance? It will pay to get you home in the event of an emergency, even if it means hiring a dog sled, catching a ride on a de-commissioned Russian nuclear sub, and chartering a helicopter.

No, I did not know that until just now. I'll pass on the insurance. That might appeal to me more if I were apt to travel to Somalia or Iran.

Quote: Wizard

No, I did not know that until just now. I'll pass on the insurance. That might appeal to me more if I were apt to travel to Somalia or Iran.

Unless you're a soldier, a dimplomat or an aid worker with little sense, a strait jacket would be more appropriate than insurance for those destinations :P