The Road Less Traveled

Well not really but since the opening of the Central City Parkway, travel to and from Black Hawk and Central City, Colorado is faster and in my opinion safer than ever before.

Opening in Spring 2005, this 4 lane 8.4 mile highway from I-70 has drawn over 750,000 cars (which explains why there is a car counting cord draped across the road at its highest point) What used to take you a hour on a two line stretch of road which bordered a canyon wall and a large drop off on the other side, now takes about 40 minutes. (for me)

Though the CC Parkway may not be as picturesque as highway 6 to route 119, with the streams and mountain side areas. (once saw a mountain goat just hanging out), it makes the journey allot more pleasant. CC Parkway does have a great view of the open mountains though as its appears to be just carved out of the side of one itself.

With this passing season of record amounts of snow fall we reflect on how well traffic and safety have held up over this amazing season. As far as local media goes there was no reported accidents on CC Parkway verses 2 major accidents on the old route 6, one of which involved two elderly patrons driving off an embankment into the stream. With the extra lanes and lighting for a large section of CC Parkway, it seems to have held up better during the season.

I once rode the old route during a "minor snow storm" in a Geo Metro. As my then girlfriend (now wife, luckily) clasp my leg, yelling at me for making her go out in this weather, and her friends doing everything they could to keep the car on the road, It makes me really appreciate the new road choose to the casino towns. Less yelling from the wife and more time to spend on the machines, which then again causes yelling from the wife on time spent on the machines, um mm, guess its just a different kind of trade off.

J

Trip Report for Sunday March 25^th, 2007

Planning and the Drive

An scheduled trip up the mountain was just what the doctor ordered. The day started at 6:15 am with some computer work and finding my Players Card binder.

Bankroll for this trip was a total of $60. There wasn’t much in our reserve as we are saving like crazy for our cruise and I didn’t want to dip into my St. Maarten fund that deeply. Only 31 more days until we leave. I was only budgeting $20 apiece, until I received a generous contribution from someone because I helped them with their cell phone. I love being technologically savvy. $30 apiece for penny players should get us a few of hours of fun.

After my wife returned from church we left around 8:15am for Blackhawk, CO. It was a nice day in comparison to the day before, when it had rained all day. The sky was blue and there was a nice white dusting of snow on the Rockies, which makes the trip up I-70 very beautiful.

As you’re driving up I-70, you pass a Bison reserve (exit at Genesee). We have seen them only one time previously, when they were near the side of the road. Sunday was the first time that we had seen them and had our camera with us.

Not much traffic for a Sunday morning so the drive took about 40 minutes from Lakewood.

Casinos

We started the day at Ameristar. When we first arrived, I stopped at the Players Club Desk to see if I had any credits on my card, and also to update my address. I had a whopping 91¢ of available comps. Wow, I’m so close to that new car, I can feel it.

The action at Ameristar was slow this early in the morning. We played on a few new machines but none of them were hitting.

Next we walked over to The Lodge. I wanted to play the new Monopoly Big Event® game. I had heard from someone who had played it that it was a lot of fun. Jen and I sat next to each other and there was one other lady on the far end. The total chairs set up are for six people to play at once. Unfortunately, nothing was won by any of us. I’m still not quite sure why the actual games are not Monopoly® themed, only the bonus rounds are. I did read on WMS Gaming last week (they have since redesigned their site, and I can no longer find the link that I am referring too), that they will be releasing another version of the old Money Grab Monopoly game here soon. This was one of my favorite incarnations of the game, so I am very excited to see it back again soon.

Not much going on at The Lodge either. I did see a new AVP® (Alien vs. Predator) game, but wasn’t feeling up to playing it.

My wife loves to play at Colorado Central Station so we made the journey down the hill. There are 3 floors to CCS, and most people never make it to the basement since it is not very well marked. We like it because it is always quiet with more open machines there.

At this point I’ve got $10 bucks left and I think Jen had $15, so we know the day is almost over for us. She finds her current favorite machine, Keepin’ up with the Joneses®

I’m playing the Ring Quest® game right next to her. We are both up and down again as I go out. Down to my last $5. I move on to my old stand-by Risqué Business, its still a 9-line machine so I know it will keep me running for a little while. Didn’t last long and I was out.

By now Jen has moved on to Texas Tea, she cashed out of Joneses up enough to give me another $5. I sat down next to her at a Used Car Lot Machine

I like this machine with the character having a heavy accent and you can change the setting to speak and display in Spanish, which I think is cool even though I wouldn’t have a clue what he’s saying.

I was up and down again but cashed out with my/her $5 and Jen is ready to go, so we made our way back to our car at Ameristar.

Now as any gambler knows that $5 is burning a hole is my pocket, walking through the casino floors with machines going off all around me. Calling me, saying sit here and you will win, Liars! But of course I’m going to spend that last $5, have too. It’s the law, isn’t it?

I’m walking around Ameristar aimlessly looking for that machine that going to hit, I finally sit down at Diamond Ridge game. Jen’s just watching as she is walking out with her $10 for Scrapbooking stuff. Spin 3, bonus round. Finally, been a slow day on the bonus rounds. There are 3 rows of Diamonds, Sapphires and something else to pick from. You pick a row and then get 3 picks from that row. You get either a number of credits or the Crazy Miner, which awards you all of the credits for that row. I got 2 crazy miners and 3 credit units from the last row. Cashed out at $15.

Stop now, I don’t think so. I cash in the $15 ticket and bribe my wife by giving her $5 for Lucky Lemmings. It works; she sits down and starts playing. I head over to Whales of Cash, just behind where she sat down. She’s winning and going to bonus rounds every spin so she’s have a good time. I’m down to my last 14 credits or so, all lines selected except for the top and bottom far corners and of course, money bag, money bag, Whale 2X, Bonus Round. I’m mad of course not having all lines but hey I’m in. 2^nd spin, money bag, money bag, money bag, more spins. Something must have matched up as the credits hit $50 bucks. I’m calling Jen and hand gesturing the amount to her and she get all excited. It finished out with $65 dollars. COLLECT

We both waste time and money on other machines but nothing else hits. We walk out the door with $70, $10 up and 3 hours of up and down playing time.

All and all a great trip with the last second come back.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed playing and recounting my steps. Lets hope my trip report from St. Maarten ends the same way, with us leaving with more money then we went in with.

J

A working map

Just as I post the link to Flickr, I find a site to post my map to this page. At the bottom of my page is a new map with direct access to my photos.

I used trippermap.com it was very easy to set up and gives you the HTML coding to post directly. This is the free map but for a small fee there is a more advance map with better markers and mapping.

To access each of my photos just click the black icon on the map and it will bring them up.

Also, you can still go to my Flickr account for a more interactive view,

Enjoy,
J

Casinos that I have been to on Flickr Map

Ive been trying to place my Flickr map on this site for two days now and its not working for me. So for the time being, here is the Link to my Flickr site. I have placed photos of all my casino chips on their geographical locations. Make sure you have the map extended out far enough to see south America as there are 7 pictures from Aruba on this map.

Enjoy,
J

Click Here For MAP

Colorado Smoking Ban

It has been almost a year since all public areas in Colorado have become non-smoking. The exception of this law has been Cigar Bars, the smoker’s lounge at Denver International Airport, and Casinos.

I won’t say I'm allergic to cigarette smoke, but I am somewhat bothered by it. I choose to avoid it if I can. For years, this has been a tradeoff issue for me. Even though casinos and bingo halls have non-smoking sections, I know that I will still come home smelling of smoke. I enjoy the games too much to let it deter me, but on the other hand a smoke free casino for my wife would be a great benefit for me.

The latest word out of the Colorado House of Representatives is they have turned away a new house bill that would make all casinos non-smoking. The language of the bill 1269 only encompasses casinos, and the members of the house voted 18-17 against it. It seems the main objection is that this bill should cover all areas previously mentioned. So it’s now back to the Senate.

Smokers will find a way to smoke, that's the truth. Some bars in Colorado Springs, CO have chosen to buck the laws and allow smoking in their restaurants and have a collection plate from patrons to help pay for any fines. The one I really like is as you exit a restaurant you now walk through a cloud of smoke as you come out the door. The original ban states that smoking must not occur within 5 feet of the entrance to an establishment. Who's going to sit there with a tape measure and enforce this regulation to the people?

On the other spectrum, places like Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk, CO was one of the first to say that their restaurants would be completely non-smoking, while still allowing patrons to smoke on the casino floors. Not a requirement by law, but management felt that if every other restaurant in CO was going to be non-smoking, they should follow suite.

Non-smoking sections in casinos are nothing new. I remember the first non-smoking room that I went to at Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, Oregon. It was small, had some older games, and the service wasn't that great. It also seemed that the new games were just outside the non-smoking doors and were louder, as if they were trying to draw you out. Things have since changed, as the room has gotten progressively larger, there are newer games, and the service is faster. They have also placed a concession stand outside the doors of the section. So now instead of smelling smoke, you smell hot dogs.

Since this session of Congress is almost over, it appears it will be at least another year before we can address the smoking issue again. However, as more and more places explore this concept, one has to wonder how long it can go on. Will casinos ever go fully non-smoking? Will it really matter? Will it actually hurt the casino’s bottom line? As some have fought on this issue, what’s more addictive and more important to an addict, smoking or gambling?

Just a few thoughts...... J

Casino Review 4 Fun Podcast #2

Casino review #2 - Casino Review 4 Fun Podcast #2

Weekly update on blog with information on future blogs and shows

Happy St. Patricks Day

Well its that time of year again, so I thought today would be a perfect time to review "Fitzgeralds Black Hawk Casino, in Black Hawk Colorado.

This is one of my favorite casinos in BH. They offer a wide variety of penny games and have maybe the best complementary item available on the mountain.

Fitzgeralds offers free Valet parking services with a rather large garage. No public park but there are quite a few places to self park near by.

Gaming wise, it is a three floor building with rather large gaming floor. The aisles are small especially by the players club and cage areas but not to annoying.

They offer quite a variety of games with allot of penny options. On the second floor you can find a few table games most with $5 min/max bets.

My favorite games here are Antique Appraisal and Tabasco.

The most enticing part of this casino has to be the complementary hot dogs served daily on the third floor. It is a self service hot dog bar with the traditional condiments and is located right next to a soda station. Makes for a great place to play and have a free bite. The also offer a restaurant for Lunch and Dinner Menu service.

Drink service is available either from the self service stand on the 3rd floor or from attendants. They are relatively fast depending on your location in the building.

Personally I have never hit very well but I do get my moneys worth. I can play for an hour or so on a twenty and have a good time while I'm there.

The Players club is easy to sign up for (like most casinos) and I get the occasional $5.00 free coupon and the annual Birthday gift.

They don't have the new stuff right away but then again they offer a good selection of some of the games that are disappearing from other places. All and all a great casino with a national reputation and the free Hot Dogs are defiantly enough to make you stop in for a spin.

J

Audio Clip: Welcome and Update

Gabcast! Casino reveiw #1

Casino Blog ideas

So I spent time thinking about how and what I want to present. So far I have a few ideas and hopefully as time passes, this is the type of information and blogs you will find on casinoreview4fun.blogspot.com


1. Casino Reviews-Past and present reviews from a penny player prospective. Casino's that I have been to in the past and/or Casinos that are still on my play list.

2. New slot machines-either found on the casino floors or from the pages of Casino Player and Strictly Slots magazine, both great resources. I have been getting both of these magazines for about 3 years and love them. I was printed in the letters to editor section from an online question in Oct 2004 edition. Though I love these mag's, I also feel that they don't cover what I consider the common man casinos. I would love to go to the Casino covered from Vegas to AC, but I have my little Indian casinos in Oregon and my small yet satisfying gambling towns in Colorado, which get no coverage. Other than the weekly slot tournament at The Lodge Casino in BH at the back of the magazines.

3. $20 dollar review-This is the most fun for me. My thought is to give a play by play account (abbreviated of course) of my play at a certain casino and what I can accomplish on a $20 bank roll. Might not seem like much but if you playing those penny slots it could or might not last a long time. I figure if anything, you can live vicariously though my play or I can see how much money I waste in the same machines. After 5 different places it seems you always windup playing whatever machine hit for you last time, with the hope it will hit again.

4. Slot Machines: Behind the Bells and Whistles- This is one I really hope will happen. I want to interview anyone at a casino that is in charge of deciding what games end up on the floor and why. Most slot enthusiasts will read about all the new games being released during the Global Gaming Expo, but they don't end up on the floors, or you finally find the game you love and poof!!! Its gone. (Clue, based on the board game, is the one that got away for my wife. If anyone has seen a Clue Slot machine, please fill me in, That's a guaranteed trip for me!!!!!!!)

As time passes I hope more and more of you will read and enjoy my blogs. Please post any and all comments. blog ideas, questions on Colorado casinos. I will post and respond to as much as possible.

J

Introduction

About Your Blogist, ME

My name is Jose, I am 27 and live in Colorado. I grew up in Oregon where I was exposed to Indian Casino's at age 12. I have been to casinos all over the US and the Caribbean and love to share my experiences.

First is my gaming habits

I'm a penny player, I play minimum lines and low bet (9line 1coin) I go for fun. I just enjoy the games and time away from the real world.

I very rarely play the tables but if the minimum is low I might play a few hands.

I have played roulette once and I'm no good.

My Home Casino

The great part of living in Colorado is we have 3 gambling towns. Black Hawk (BH), Central City (CC), and Cripple Creek (CCR). 22 casinos in BH, 7 or so in CC and 12 or something in CCR

I love the ability to walk up and down the mountain roads and go to all the different casinos. I waste my frequent player points by casino hoping but I never spend enough to really cash in anyway.

That's My Story

Well that's what I'm all about. What I hope to accomplish by writing the blog is to share my interest in Casino and Slot machines with others, share my experience, and just toss stuff out.