 
The
good, the bad and the ugly
Dear
Mark,
All casinos have slot machines,
blackjack tables, etc. Is there
a difference between casino A, B
and C? Michelle R.
PLENTY,
Michelle! My goal as a player-advocate
columnist is to develop players
who can identify beneficial gaming
situations, not only the bets you
make in a casino but the casinos
themselves. So are all casinos the
same? No, no-the correct answer
is this: No two casinos are alike.
Some are good, and some, well let
me describe the differences:
The Good: Though more come to mind,
I'll give you two examples: the
Club Cal Neva in Reno and Binion's
Horseshoe in Las Vegas. Here's what
they offer their cherished players-that's
you and me, Michelle. Besides some
of the cheapest food prices-99¢
breakfasts and $3.99 steak dinners-they
offer great gaming plays like 25¢
crap games with up to 10 times odds,
single-deck blackjack with liberal
rules, single-zero roulette, excellent
video poker pay tables, loads of
loose nickel and quarter machines
and comps just for breathing.
These casinos, the ones that treat
you like a treasured commodity and
are always trying to increase buyer
value, are casinos I hope you, Michelle,
will migrate to.
The Bad: Quite possibly, this is
the casino you normally play in.
Gouging table limits on the weekends;
tough getting comps (stale popcorn
and lucky dogs don't cut it); poor
pay tables on video poker machines;
and tight slots. Basically, they
put out games for your convenience
and count their money. Plus, the
practice of my #1 rule of casino
management-who's the boss, you the
customer-is limited. If your favorite
casino has any of the above symptoms,
maybe it's time to change.
The Ugly: Casino Windsor. Knowing
full well they have the only game
in town, Detroiters who cross the
river to Canada-and all players
for that matter-are being ripped
off, big time! For starters, charging
$40 for valet parking and instant
admission versus parking two blocks
away and waiting up to two hours
to get in is absurd. Hopefully that
has changed.
But I'm just warming up. They opened
with $15 table minimums/$200 maximums-which
can deplete a modest bankroll in
mere minutes; zero nickel, very
limited quarter and mostly dollar
slots; and very poor pay tables
on video poker machines equaling
what you would find in airports
and grocery stores. Finally the
triple whammy: I found food service
at the buffet slow, quality only
fair, and prices high. Unequivocally,
two thumbs down on Casino Windsor.
But even I get the worst of it once
in a while, Michelle. After spending
the day lounging poolside at the
Mirage Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas,
my friends and I decided instead
of watching a sporting event in
their sports book-we were just too
tired (lazy) to leave the room-that
a some beer and a few snacks in
our room would do the trick. We
each threw in a few bucks and sent
our runner (scissors cuts paper)
down to a convenience store called
"Impulse" in the Mirage
Hotel. Noting here that all the
"buyer impulse" merchandise
we purchased wasn't priced, the
cost of two six-packs, one small
package of Jerky, and two eight-ounce
boxes of Cheese Nips: $29.43! Thought
I would pass along my lesson learned
to you.
So, Michelle, the key here is shopping
for value, not only on your bet
selection, but learning to shop
casinos. Warren Nelson, owner of
the Club Cal Neva in Reno, has lived
by a simple principle most of his
career: "Give the players the
best bet (lowest odds for the house)
that you can while still making
a profit, and they will play longer,
leave satisfied and come back bringing
their friends." I applaud his
sound reasoning and, Michelle, that's
the kind of casino where you should
play.
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