Just got back from a 2-day excursion of multi-property gambling; here's a quick report: Drove down to Louisville from Indianapolis to see Fleetwood Mac at the "Yum" center (EXCELLENT show, BTW), left and checked in to Horseshoe Southern Indiana (comped room). Did my usual play of BDLX video poker and did quite well, all the while irritating my wonderful wife by rolling in to the room at about 4am (Hey, you can't stop on a good machine!).
Left HSSI and drove to Belterra, where we checked in and met up w/ Mother-in-Law and drove to Horseshoe Cincinnati. Here are my thoughts:
OK, Ohio is a "No Smoking in Public Places" State, so I kinda figured on not being able to smoke in the casino. The property is nice, although tricky to get to if you're not used to the highways and streets around the area. Interior area is very nice, with a good assortment of table games and slots. At a quick glance, BJ minimum was $10 when I first got there Friday afternoon, but I noticed when I left that it was $15 as the tables filled up later in the afternoon.
Good food offerings, including a buffet ("The Spread") as well as a Binion's steak house and a Bobby Flay's Burger joint; ate at Margaritaville, although the "Volcano Nachos" I'm used to at the Flamingo's Margaritaville in LV were not up to par (runny yellow cheese-product on top instead of the shredded cheese broiled on in LV).
Now the gaming: No BDLX (as I would like), with many of the VP machines at a $1 level. The 25-cent VP machines only offered BP and a few other games, with the BP being of the 6/5 variety (Hello, LV strip...) My other gripe is that there is no bar-top video poker. There is a centrally located bar with seats to lounge in, but (amazingly) it has no seats at the bar... I sat and watched the Masters golf tournament action for a while, knowing that I would soon be returning to the Belterra for better video poker (and smoking...). There was a "smoking area" at the casino, but it's a tiny patio and the ashtrays are all overflowing; I know smoking is a bad thing, but if a casino offers a smoking area, at least send some poor soul out there to clean up once in a while. This casino has only been open for a few weeks, and already the smoking area is horrible; it's like they want to reinforce a message that smokers are all slobs (yes, there are a few), and we don't want to clean up after them!
Headed back to the Belterra for more familiar environs, and had a great time. Visited their newly-remodeled buffet on Saturday for lunch; very nice and think it's better than the Paula Deen Buffet at the HSSI!
Hope this info helps.
Pete
Indy
