Colorado Votes to Expand Gaming Laws

Ok I’m not interested in politics. I don’t have the time to be an educated voter so I’m not even registered. I'm tired of all the ads on TV, radio, and in the mail but there is a bill on the Colorado ballet that I'm paying attention too.

Amendment 50: Limited Gaming in Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek

This amendment would allow the towns in Colorado where gambling is allow to vote on wither or not they want to expand gaming limits, games available, and gaming hours.

My first question was why are we voting to give the right to towns people to vote on an issue. Don’t they have that right in the first place?

My second question was when would this, if passed, be enacted?

With what I can find online it appears that no change could be made till July 09 per the tax regulations. I might be wrong.

Now the increased betting limits (going from $5 max to $100 max) wont effect a player like me, it will mainly affect the card players out there. I'm a penny player and hate betting more than the minimum anyway.

The new games such as roulette and craps might be a onetime adventure for me but I can see the draw for other players.

The one part of the new law which would be more beneficial to me would be the expanded gaming hours. Currently operating from 8 am to 2 am this law would allow for 24 hour gaming.

I have found these limited hours annoying on a few occasions but not many.

My first ever trip to Black Hawk I was so excited. I left from Littleton around 630 am as I was on a time crunch and had to be back in town by noon. I drove as fast as I could up the old mountain route 93 and got to Fortune Valley Casino a little after 730 am. I walked in from the parking garage to find the gates up blocking the casino entrance and all the machine were off. I then noticed the hours sign posted next to the gate. I have now learned to adjust both my sleep and driving styles on days I'm going to the casino.

The second time was during an overnight stay for my birthday with my wife. She doesn't gamble much but when we are staying at a casino the funniest thing happens. She wakes me up in the middle of the night and asks if I want to go down to the slots. Of course I do. While this time she walks me up and I had to say no, there not open yet.

If this bill passes I won’t have to worry about either of these issues again.

I have seen and heard the opponents objectives to the bill and understand their arguments. The main backing is speaking to the betting limits and that people will spend larger amounts of money. I agree completely. People are going to be dropping more money and some of them don’t have it but again that won’t be me.

Now as I said I will take advantage of the expanded hours but will I be driving home/or leaving to go up the mountain at 3 am, hopefully not. I like the Central City Parkway drive off of I-70 but at night that’s one heck of a road. It’s a long way to the bottom if you miss one of the those turns and I know the same thing could happen at 3pm in daylight but I just feel better getting to and from that road before the sun goes down or after it comes up, but that’s just me.

Either way November cant come soon enough. All these political issues out there and only one has sparked enough interest with me to really contemplate.

Here is a link to the local new stations coverage of the bill with all the legalize if you want to know the exacts of the bill. http://www.9news.com/news/elections/article.aspx?storyid=100868&catid=137

Have a great day and Happy Gaming,
J

The Mill Casino, Coos Bay Oregon

The Mill Casino, Coos Bay Oregon

While on vacation in Oregon I had the pleasure of visiting The Mill Casino. This was my first trip since 06 and boy has it changed.

1. The Mill Casino has added a new wing to there hotel.
2. The Casino Floor has been redesigned (more later)
3. Non Smoking Section (??????????)

The casino has added a 92 room tower to the property. With the existing 112 rooms in the original hotel this has now became a major draw for out-of- town gamblers. Both internal and external the hotel and reception area look amazing.

The casino floor has been completely redone since my last visit. The slot machines rows are now at a 45 degree angle and more room has been place between the isles for easier access throughout the casino.

What once was the bingo hall has now been completely transformed with the removal of the old walls that once held the doors going into the bingo hall.

With this comes my question on the non-smoking section. The old bingo hall area used to be the non-smoking. It had, in my estimate, close to 150-200 machines available and was very well ventilated being it did not have door separating it from the smoking section.

Now the new smoking section is completely enclosed but only houses around 40-50 machines. This area was very small and made me feel like I was playing in a glass box. I hate the smell of smoke in the air and on my clothing; I couldn’t stand playing in the non-smoking section for very long.

I found some new games and some old ones but nothing that was just amazing.

1. Wheel of Fortune® Video Slots - Las Vegas by IGT was a interesting new game. I’m not a fan of having to get symbols in all 5 columns to get into the bonus round so I didn’t spend a lot on this machine

2. Hee Haw by Bally. Win up to 30 free games by getting 3 sitting ducks in rows 1, 3, and 5. Also the corn bonus with progressive jackpot. My only complaint is because I’m a minimum bet player. If you are not playing the full max bet the corn bonus is worthless. I did see a lady get 7 ears of corn for a progressive of 137.00.

3. Indian Jones progressive by IGT. I didn’t have much luck or fun. I saw a good review and link on other gaming site I would recommend reading. http://www.thebadgambler.com/2008/07/how-indiana-jones-slot-machine-works.html

My last observation is an overall expression of my feelings for the new Mill Casino. The best thing I found in the casino was the new change machine. You put in a 20 and it gives you the option on how you would like your change, 10’s, 5’s 1’s. It’s really a sad visit when the best thing about it, is getting to choose what denomination of money you are about to put into a slot machine.

Smoking Bans at Casinos Across the Country

I have made quite a few comments on this site about Colorado non smoking laws and how it effects the casinos. Ive been interested to see how other states have been doing on this issue

I have found a new blog which covers most of the topics I like but from Atlantic City Casinos perspective. I emailed him to ask how the partial smoking ban was working in AC. This is the link to his site with a response.


http://www.thebadgambler.com/2008/08/bad-gambler-reader-mail-smoking-in-ac.html

Have a great day and Happy Gaming,
J

Trip Report July 29th 2008 Blackhawk, Colorado

Trip Report July 29th 2008 Blackhawk, Colorado

On Sunday I was finally able to go up the mountain for a nice evening of slot machines. This trip was sparked by 2 mail flyers, one from Mardi Gras Casino and one from Fitzgeralds Casino BH. Mardi Gras was a 2 day only $5 coupon which I thought was weird, until I received my mailer from Fitzgeralds announcing the grand opening of the new gaming area on July 28th and 29th, coincidently the same days my coupon was good for at MG. Either way I still took advantage of both.

I started my day at the Silver Hawk Saloon & Casino. This is a small casino in comparison to others in BH and Central City and for what its worth, the only reason I went was because the parking was so full for Bullwhackers Black Hawk, I was parked almost right outside of SH. At SH, they had only one floor of slot machines open. They used to have gaming on the second floor but that area has now closed. I found mainly older games including Risqué Business, The Munster’s, and Beverly Hillbillies.

I did sit and play the Beverly Hillbillies for a little bit. This was the version with Granny shooting the kangaroo thing bonus and Granny filling oil bucks and you get the highest amount in the bucket. Still an entertaining game but the bonuses seemed a little light on the payouts.
I left up from when I walked in the door but mostly would go back unless I was parked right outside the door again.

Next up was Bullwhackers Black Hawk. I walked in the main door from the parking lot and could barely get in the door. The line for the players club was blocking the doors. As far as machines go I saw Wizard of Oz, Monopoly, and some new 3 cent machines that I hadn’t see before on the main level. On the bottom floor there was Village People Party, Deal or No Deal Play It, the new Beverly Hillbillies game Cash or Crude version, and Gilligan’s Isle.

I played on each and won on VPP and GI. With VPP, I got into the twice. 1st time I got the pooper on the 1st pick but got the party saver, but again choice a pooper on my next pick. The second time I had a good run, finishing with 3 macho men and a party saver. On GI, I got into the bonus and selected all characters with the coconut spin getting the all character bonus award.

I continued my journey down the hill now stopping at the Fitzgeralds Black Hawk. The big draw was the grand opening of the new gaming area. It was very busy and with the new area they have also created a new player club, so the line for the PC was long and may people were confused on what line to be in.

The new area was very nice. Two floors of gaming with a nice rustic cabin decor (my opinion) Large TV's were in the corners mounted to the ceiling. It did feel a little cramped but that was do to all the traffic from the PC. The only new(er) game that I found was the Dean Martin Wild Party game. I’m not a fan of the reels on this game. If you haven’t seen it, it has 2 reels of 2 by 2 leading in to 3 reels of 4 symbols (totaling 60 pay lines) The pays can be huge but it was had to understand why some symbols match up and others didn’t. As far as the rest of Fitzgeralds went nothing that I had seen was changed. I wonder if they wont start shutting the other areas down for updates soon.

The Gilpin and the Canyon Casino's were uneventful. I did get to play the new Ebay community game at the Gilpin. Like many of the others you get a timer based on your game play that will allow you into a community bonus at random times. This one was different as that it is a free spin bonus on the large display board in front of the machines. All players are given the total result of the 10 free spins. It was more exciting than the Monopoly Big Event or Press Your Luck games as it was a more prolonged bonus but the base game just didn’t hook me enough to keep me sitting down.

On to The Lodge Casino. The newest machine I found here was the very large Wheel of Fortune community game. This thing was huge. I have no clue how the research and development team thought this one would be profitable. I’ve been to a lot of casinos that I feel this thing wouldn’t fit into. As for game play, for all lines and bonus option it was 60 credits a spin. Not bad for your average gambler but for the penny pincher, a little rich for my blood.

Last up, Mardi Gras Casino BH. There was a few new games but nothing that really stood out against the rest, I wont blame them though as I had already been to 6 casinos prior.

I did play Wild for Dolphins for the first time. This im assuming is a sister product to the Risqué Business slot machine as the bonus rounds are the same idea. With W4D you get into the bonus and select one of 4 dolphin performers. The your are taken to the performance take where 6 trainers are sitting at the tank. You select 3 trainers and they give your dolphin fish to perform a trick. You must reach a set amount to continue in the round.

I was very amused by the animation, I choose Juggling Joey. It was just funny how the game went from a stripping male or female dancer to a dolphin doing tricks. More family orientated theme for a slot machine? I will have to blog about an experience I had with the Risqué Business at another time......

Another trip in the books. Now for the likes, dislikes, and what’s new what’s missing.

Likes
1. New gaming area at Fitzgeralds Black Hawk. really nice design
2. No smoking. Still amazing to walk in and out of a casino not smelling of smoke. I love it
3. Just getting to go up to Blackhawk. Trips are getting less and less with the economy and gas prices.

Dislikes
1. Blackhawk on a Sunday afternoon. Im a morning gamer. Colorado currently is a 8am-2am gaming state. Getting here at 8 when the place first opens seems to be more fun for me. I can sit and play any machine without a wait for the first couple of hours.
2. Old Fitzgeralds Black Hawk. It was just such a contrast from the new gaming area to the old gaming area. I really hope they renovate the old side too.

New
1. Wheel of Fortune community game (The Lodge Casino)
2. EBAY (The Gilpin Casino)
3. 3 cent machines (Bullwhackers)

Missing
1. Top Gun. on my last trip every casino had atleast 2 machines but I didnt see one in any of the 7 I went to this time.
2. Wild Wilderness. One of my wifes favorites and it was no where to be found

That’s it for now. Next up will be a trip to Oregon in September. At least one stop into a casino is a must for any trip to OR.

Till next time, Happy Gaming
J