Robert Davis - Black Hawk/Central City

Hey Robert, it does look like LVA didn't like your post in "Trip Reports", I never saw it on my PC, then I was looking at the LVA Forum on my phone and it was there. You would think that they would welcome any post outside of the Kitchen Sink since the Forum's other topics get very little use in comparison.

Thanks for the info on the slot club, I'd like to hear about your thoughts and what you guys did on your trip, I look forward to a reply.

Do you guys know if VpFree2's reports for Colorado are up to date and/or accurate? I went to Cripple Creek a few years ago, and the info they had was so stale as to be useless.

I know that minor casino markets generally are sparse in opportunities, but the minor-league nature of casino management in such venues occasionally allows opportunities to sneak in. I'm thinking of going up there (probably Black Hawk/Central City, not Cripple Creek) for a week this month, since every place else is a 100+ degree hellhole now. Might be pretty dang pleasant at 8,000 feet.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Hey Max.  Don't blame anyone at LVA.  I deleted my own post.  But since Kevin and you asked I will oblige with a report.  Any time that I play, I may only be able to sit at a machine for a short period of time.  I still have chronic myofascial pain syndrome that I was diagnosed with in 1993.  It's no fun to have.

Kevin.  I understand your thoughts on the heat.  Here in the Grand Valley, we tied the record for high temp for today at 102 and will tie or surpass it the next two days. 

I got there around 12:15.  The weather was very nice.  It got a little cloudy in the late afternoon but was very pleasant to walk in both towns.  Started at the Grand Z.  The employees in the rewards club were so nice.  They answered all of my questions except the coin in for a point for playing VP.  I went down to the first floor and found a multi-denomination 9-6 DBP machine.  Put my $20 in to start playing and had some play but got it down to 10 credits.  During that time, I got my new member spin.  I got 750 points.  Little did I know how many coin in that would equate to.  Then I had a rather interesting next 9 hands.  Got a full house on the first of these.  Then two losers.  Then a 4 of a kind on 10's.  Another loser.  Then another full house.  Two losers.  Then 4 Aces.  I was quickly over 1100 credits.  I played a little more then decided to go to Black Hawk.  I got lost and saw a great deal of Central City.  Finally I found the right way.

My first stop was Ameristar.  The employee in the rewards club thought he was doing me a favor by getting me a card.  When I asked a question, he was offended.  I only put $20 in a machine and left.  Kevin, I can't give you a revew of VPfree on this place because I didn't stay long.  I doubled back to Z casino.  VPFree indicated that they had some good machines on the first floor.  I would say so.  Sat down on a JoB machine in the area recommended.  It was either a 8-5 or 9-6 machine.  Sorry I can't remember.  Since, I'm not a BTP (big time player) I usually start with a $20.  I did pretty well and got some really good hands.  I had decided that when I got to $100 I would cash out and visit another casino.  At $96, I got a royal in spades.  Ended up cashing out $1100.  I did play a few other machines and did fine.  As I posted for Max, the machine tech there who was trying to retrieve my ticket that one of the machines ate informed me that he believed that it took $18-$36 coin in for one point playing VP.  Didn't bother me.

Then I went to the Gilpin and got a players card.  They were so nice to explain the new member offer that if I got 100 points I would get a $15 food voucher.  I went to the Lodge to play to earn my offer.  Even though it thought I was playing one of the 99.17% BP machines, I wasn't seeing the results.  I finally got my 100 points.  With my food voucher, I netted a small loss.  I went to Gilpin to eat and found the food to be reasonalby priced and good quality.  The service was very good.

I didn't go to any other casino in either town.  I went back to the Grand Z and played the remainder of the evening until I got tired.  The first room I got had the cover for the A/C hanging down and there was a stepladder in the room.  I got another room but it was small.  When I checked out the next morning, Eli at the front desk was very apologetic.  He was kind to let me know what rooms he stays in when the snow makes it impossible to get home.  I wrote it down.  Also, he gave me a coupon for a free breakfast when I visit again.  Yes I checked and it has no expiration date.

I'm sorry that I was so detailed.  Max will have to give you more information because he is the expert here on those cities.  But I'm happy with the largest winning day that I ever had.  Everyone take care.

Robert, thanks for the report, and we appreciate the level of detail.

I don't even remember how long ago it was, but I do recall the Gilpin as having the best promos. Ameristar had a play X get a free room, play Y get a meal comp promo, which I remember taking advantage of. VPFree2 doesn't indicate much decent VP in Black Hawk/CC, with .25 9/6 JOB being the best I saw. But who knows how up to date their stuff is. It's apparently 8/5 Bonus or worse.

Cripple Creek used to have a LOT of NSUD. Now, only one casino (Midnight Rose) is listed as having it. I loved going there because the drive is beautiful. Can't imagine doing it in the winter, though--it's kind of a goat path.

So any positive plays would have to be tied to a pretty strong promo. I don't know if they get so much business that they don't feel they need to float good promos, but I do recall that the towns were largely empty if it wasn't a weekend. They had the gamblers' buses come up during the week, but they were usually gone by 5:00. Weekdays evenings, it was a ghost town.

I'll try to do some research on new player signup bonuses.

Ameristar has the same promotion.  Gilpin/The Lodge does have two other point promotions besides the 100 points for $15 food voucher.  You'd reach the 1000 point for $50 in e-Cash and $50 in food.  Monarch does have a room promo.  I went as an exploratory visit to check out the drive and the area.    Next time, I will find the time to visit other locations.  Monarch has some promotions that you would qualify for.  Plus, it wasn't busy at all.  Take care.

Vpfree2 is not up to date, in fact, I updated a few of the casinos through the vpfree2 website a few months ago on 8/5 Bonus Poker and NSUD, he emailed me back asking if their DDB Poker info was up to date and I told him I don't play that but I would check and let him know. I never did.

There are some low-roller opportunities, which would work well for you if you just want to play a bit and then spend time outside in the mountains doing other things. I'll give you a run down on what I know, if you find anything else of interest in your travels up there, I'd like to hear about it.

The Monarch recently added a hotel and completely renovated the casino, in the process they reduced the amount of video poker and took out the three NSUD machines they had. The video poker is on the 2nd floor next to the sportsbook and at the bars. Nothing good. 

Horseshoe, Lady Luck(owned by and attached to Horseshoe), and Bally's have nothing good, I also don't know much about any of the four casinos' slot clubs or promos because there's nothing I can play there, so if you figure out coin in per point, etc, that would be information that I would like to have. Monarch has the best buffet in Blackhawk, and I've heard that you get a free buffet as a new player, so you can check that out and let me know.

Ameristar has $.25, $.50, $1.00 9/6 JoB, and 8/5 Bonus poker, I know I should play JoB, but I play B/P. For VP it's $10 coin-in for 1 tier point. On Sundays(the day I go up) they have a kiosk game, earn 150 tier points swipe for free play, earn another 50 tier points, and swipe again, lately the minimum free play you can earn is $45 with two swipes. I usually get $30 to show up and then with the kiosk game added in I end up with $75 to $100 free play on $2,000 coin-in. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if you earn 100 tier points you can swipe at the kiosk for a $25 food comp good at Jinya Ramen, Fireside Cafe, the Buffet(won't cover the entire cost), or the Steak House(won't cover half the cost of a steak, nevermind any sides.).

You do have a good opportunity this month, on Saturday, August 10, they're running their Earn and Get promo, play 100 tier points and get $20 free play, you can do that 5 times for a total of 500 tier points for $100, then you have Sunday to play the kiosk game. There aren't many hotel rooms up there so a Saturday room is pricey and a comp is tough to get, Friday is slightly easier.  On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday earn 200 tier points to earn a 1-night stay, you will be charged a $22 resort fee, I don't know if you could check in on Monday, then earn a Tuesday room and simply stay another night, good info to find out. I have comps on those nights all the time anyway so I've never used this promo.

On Tuesdays, they have the Platinum Players promo, 2X casino cash(worthless, but if you are playing you might as well activate it), and a free slot tournament, the top 25 players win free play from $100 on up. I've noticed you need to score 75,000 points on the slot machine to get the minimum and the winner is usually around 100,000 points. If you want more details on how it works, and where the machines are, let me know.

The Lodge and The Gilpin are owned by the same company, and as Robert mentioned the new player promo is 100 tier points $15 food comp, 250 tier points $25(?) free play and 1,000 tier points $50 free play and $50 food comp. $8 coin-in is 1 tier point, strangely enough both on VP and slots. The Lodge has $.50 JoB and BP, the Gilpin has $1 JoB and BP, they both have a progressive $.50 and $1.00 on BP, the $.50 one is 7/5 and the $1 one is 8/5. The progressives are separate between the two casinos, both of them were recently over $5,000 each, but they have both been recently hit.

If you want to know the locations of the machines let me know.

The Gilpin over 50 promo is on Tuesdays, 100 tier points for $15 comp which will cover any of their sandwiches or burgers, my wife and I like the sandwiches and burgers and play there for food comp offers. They also have a 2x tier point multiplier you can activate on Tuesday after you earn the 100 tier points.

The Lodge runs their Club Classic Promo on Wednesdays, 250 tier points gets you a free buffet, the worst buffet in Black Hawk, although it's edible(there are only 3 buffets, Ameristar is the third), and up to a 5X tier multiplier.

Let me know if you have any questions on any of this, if you are interested in 3/2 blackjack from $5 6 deck to $25-$100 double deck I can give you the rundown on that. 

Also if you drive from Denver to Black Hawk during a weekday, they're putting in a walking/biking path in the canyon, the highway goes down to one lane right after the first tunnel, it is the only delay, so wait it out and once you get past it you're good to go.  They have two sections already complete and open, as you drive up the canyon, you'll see several parking areas on your left side near the river, and you can access the path at any one of those if you want to walk the paved trail, it's pretty nice.

PS. The Gilpin also has a bowl of green chili  with flour tortillas, on their menu, and it's good!

PPS. If you vulture slots, I have some info on that.

PPPS. 9/6 JoB and 8/5 BP are available at The Lodge at $0.50 and $1.00 without the progressive as well.

Nice win Robert! My wife and I like the food at the Gilpin as well and eat there once or twice a month. Cheers!

Thanks for all the info, Max! I checked the various casinos' websites last night, but their info on their promos left out a lot of key points, which you supplied.

I don't do slot vulturing any more, but if you have useful info, that would be great. Places that have "Gambler's Buses" are usually good opportunities, as when the bell sounds, people have to leave right away. Insofar as BJ is concerned, I'm sure it sucks less than in Vegas 😄

Sounds like it would be worth it to hit the area during the week. The Ameristar room promo looks good. Oh, and one of the things I miss about Colorado is a nice "bowl of green " I would definitely hit the Gilpin for that.

Thanks Max.  I hope that you're not being impacted by the fires.  The information you provide is always appreciated.