Yes- I can be had and those devious critters in casino marketing know it. My price has gone up and I don’t get too excited about half price buffets or discounted rooms any more, but offer me free stuff and I am your boy. That is why my closet is stuffed with the ghosts of casino past- t shirts, key chains, coffee cups, dice, cards and some special items like a gaudy Caesars Palace medallion cast in the cheapest pot metal known to man. I also have some miniature Plaza calendars that you can stick on a surface as you peel off the months, from 1996. Of course my collection includes items from closed casinos like the Stardust, Aladdin and New Frontier as well. You never know when that player’s club card might come in handy.
The old Harrah’s in Saint Louis was taken over and renamed Hollywood Casino recently. I had played there when it was Harrahs’ exactly once. I was pleased when my wife and I received an offer containing free rooms and airfare. We both had the same offer so we invited another couple along- free is free after all. A review of Tripadvisor postings indicated that the casino was under renovation however VPfree said that there was some playable VP including bonus poker and triple bonus plus.
Departure day came and the skies were dark. A band of windy-rainy-yucky weather took up the whole middle of the country and our flight got canceled. I spent a mindless hour on hold with American Airlines (“your call is very important to us, please continue to hold”) and decided to go to our local airport to talk to a live human. We could be rebooked, tomorrow maybe. Then a helpful gent behind the counter noted that it was actually only a five hour drive. We all yelled, “Road Trip” and piled in our Toyota Sequoia for the voyage.
It actually took a little longer since the same rain that blotted out air travel was soaking the roads but we made it. We were given nice rooms although they are starting to show their age, and an envelope from our host (which I didn’t know I had). It included some passes to the Producers Lounge- the old Diamond Lounge and a helpful list of restaurants and their hours.
We all threw our stuff in the rooms and headed up to the Producers Lounge. We got new player’s card first and were all at the starting level. The trip to the Producers Lounge required snaking through a dark passageway which was a result of the construction. Darlene was the gate guard at the Lounge and eyed us suspiciously with our lowly beginner level player’s cards, however with our passes, all was good. We were able to order free food off a limited menu and get free drinks- perfect.
Properly nourished and hydrated, we went down to the casino to play video poker. The floor was chaotic with construction and machines clearly being moved around. Banks of machines would have some out of order or not lit up at all. I could only find a handful of decent machines and they all had people camped out on them that had apparently been there since the Lewis and Clarke expedition.
Have you noticed that often when people are living on a machine thatyou’d like to play that they are playing the lowest denomination available slowly one coin at a time? We went on an extended tour of the video poker and couldn’t find anything decent so played on some short pay quarter machines that paid an extra bonus if you drew four aces and they spelled out “aces” as some of the cards also had letters on them. Did I mention that these were short pay with the predictable results?
They were also giving out camp chairs- you know those things that fold up in a carry bag and fold out into a chair? I really wanted one of these to add to my unused collection of casino giveaway stuff but the line was really long. I kept coming back and by the time the line shortened, they were closing it up.
Darn.
Next day we tried “the eat up buffet”. Previously, the escalator to this was marked by a huge fork in the walkway but that had been removed with another temporary construction wall surrounding the area.
My wife somehow had comps on her card so there must have been some kind of transfer from our Harrah’s TR account. She had enough to cover an adequate but not spectacular breakfast.
Our initial plans were to visit the Missouri Botanical Gardens however it was cold and windy. Luckily a nice warm casino offered refuge and we played around at different games. The 8/5 BP was open so I fed in a few hundred with not a single positive result. I then tried the triple bonus plus which was a decent play but with the same poor results. Oh where or where is my mojo?
We ended up spending the entire day wandering around and then I spotted some new machines with bonus deuces wild and JOB with their 99+% paybacks posted on a sign above them. They were not installed yet but the slot techs were busy at work inside of them. We decided to hit the Producers Lounge again, sheepishly waving to Darlene. They were serving a free plated pork loin, vegetable and rice pilaf for free that night along with free cocktails. It was good, and free. As a comp whore, I of course would have celebrated the saltine special if it was free.
We wanted to go see the Arch and Museum the following day and called it a night early.
Up early the next day and we now know to immediately swipe our cards for the comp multiplier. Most times we got two times which helped maintain enough comps to cover meals. Today we tried the Aroma Café. We waited in a line that passed by a large display case loaded with delectable appearing pastries. You know those large, gooey over-sized confections with caramel, nuts and frosting drizzled all over them?
Fighting with will power I didn’t know I had, I opted for a glass of orange juice and scrambled eggs. I could smell the cinnamon wafting from the case. Our friends got themselves the same breakfast and off we went to the Saint Louis Arch.
Well worth seeing if you haven’t yet- an interesting museum leads to these little cars that carry you up to the top of the Arch. There was a great view of the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi built by a man who had never built a bridge before. The bridge was built using a new concept called cantilevered support and completed in late 1874. It is still in use today. I can only imagine the process were the bridge to be proposed today- it would be held up due to the yellow beaked nut-buster’s nesting areas within fifty miles of a proposed bridge support or some such.
Afterwards we had planned to visit restaurants featured on “Diner’s, Drive-ins and Dives”, a food channel show hosted by the punk rock chef, Guy Fieri. We chose “Iron Barley”, a pub that cooks mostly on cast iron and features many local Saint Louis area beers. The neighborhood was a bit iffy but we were able to park right in front. Great bar-b-que pork sandwich and a crisp double IPA made for a great lunch.
What’s this on the menu? “Blaster Pies?”
Our waiter explained that they blended up a filling, then poured it into a pie shell and froze it.
Good enough for us and we ordered them up. The Banana Cream was great and my wife’s chocolate peanut butter was delicious, although frozen pretty thoroughly.
Our friends picked up the tab and we threw down a tip- back to the casino we must go.
Well- I never once had anything close to a winning session. I hit my budgeted stop loss and watched my wife play various slot machines. There is more animation in these things than in most of the cartoons I watched growing up- move over Huckleberry Hound.
We checked out with zero balance on both rooms. The drive back was far easier and we only briefly got delayed by a sign in Kickapoo, Illinois announcing the Jubilee Café featuring homemade pies. That was enough to get us to stop for coffee and pie. Good stuff if you ever happen to be driving through.
Next trip will involve casinos in Bettendorf, Iowa and Atlantic City, New Jersey in May.
Paul and Sonya from Iowa
The old Harrah’s in Saint Louis was taken over and renamed Hollywood Casino recently. I had played there when it was Harrahs’ exactly once. I was pleased when my wife and I received an offer containing free rooms and airfare. We both had the same offer so we invited another couple along- free is free after all. A review of Tripadvisor postings indicated that the casino was under renovation however VPfree said that there was some playable VP including bonus poker and triple bonus plus.
Departure day came and the skies were dark. A band of windy-rainy-yucky weather took up the whole middle of the country and our flight got canceled. I spent a mindless hour on hold with American Airlines (“your call is very important to us, please continue to hold”) and decided to go to our local airport to talk to a live human. We could be rebooked, tomorrow maybe. Then a helpful gent behind the counter noted that it was actually only a five hour drive. We all yelled, “Road Trip” and piled in our Toyota Sequoia for the voyage.
It actually took a little longer since the same rain that blotted out air travel was soaking the roads but we made it. We were given nice rooms although they are starting to show their age, and an envelope from our host (which I didn’t know I had). It included some passes to the Producers Lounge- the old Diamond Lounge and a helpful list of restaurants and their hours.
We all threw our stuff in the rooms and headed up to the Producers Lounge. We got new player’s card first and were all at the starting level. The trip to the Producers Lounge required snaking through a dark passageway which was a result of the construction. Darlene was the gate guard at the Lounge and eyed us suspiciously with our lowly beginner level player’s cards, however with our passes, all was good. We were able to order free food off a limited menu and get free drinks- perfect.
Properly nourished and hydrated, we went down to the casino to play video poker. The floor was chaotic with construction and machines clearly being moved around. Banks of machines would have some out of order or not lit up at all. I could only find a handful of decent machines and they all had people camped out on them that had apparently been there since the Lewis and Clarke expedition.
Have you noticed that often when people are living on a machine thatyou’d like to play that they are playing the lowest denomination available slowly one coin at a time? We went on an extended tour of the video poker and couldn’t find anything decent so played on some short pay quarter machines that paid an extra bonus if you drew four aces and they spelled out “aces” as some of the cards also had letters on them. Did I mention that these were short pay with the predictable results?
They were also giving out camp chairs- you know those things that fold up in a carry bag and fold out into a chair? I really wanted one of these to add to my unused collection of casino giveaway stuff but the line was really long. I kept coming back and by the time the line shortened, they were closing it up.
Darn.
Next day we tried “the eat up buffet”. Previously, the escalator to this was marked by a huge fork in the walkway but that had been removed with another temporary construction wall surrounding the area.
My wife somehow had comps on her card so there must have been some kind of transfer from our Harrah’s TR account. She had enough to cover an adequate but not spectacular breakfast.
Our initial plans were to visit the Missouri Botanical Gardens however it was cold and windy. Luckily a nice warm casino offered refuge and we played around at different games. The 8/5 BP was open so I fed in a few hundred with not a single positive result. I then tried the triple bonus plus which was a decent play but with the same poor results. Oh where or where is my mojo?
We ended up spending the entire day wandering around and then I spotted some new machines with bonus deuces wild and JOB with their 99+% paybacks posted on a sign above them. They were not installed yet but the slot techs were busy at work inside of them. We decided to hit the Producers Lounge again, sheepishly waving to Darlene. They were serving a free plated pork loin, vegetable and rice pilaf for free that night along with free cocktails. It was good, and free. As a comp whore, I of course would have celebrated the saltine special if it was free.
We wanted to go see the Arch and Museum the following day and called it a night early.
Up early the next day and we now know to immediately swipe our cards for the comp multiplier. Most times we got two times which helped maintain enough comps to cover meals. Today we tried the Aroma Café. We waited in a line that passed by a large display case loaded with delectable appearing pastries. You know those large, gooey over-sized confections with caramel, nuts and frosting drizzled all over them?
Fighting with will power I didn’t know I had, I opted for a glass of orange juice and scrambled eggs. I could smell the cinnamon wafting from the case. Our friends got themselves the same breakfast and off we went to the Saint Louis Arch.
Well worth seeing if you haven’t yet- an interesting museum leads to these little cars that carry you up to the top of the Arch. There was a great view of the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi built by a man who had never built a bridge before. The bridge was built using a new concept called cantilevered support and completed in late 1874. It is still in use today. I can only imagine the process were the bridge to be proposed today- it would be held up due to the yellow beaked nut-buster’s nesting areas within fifty miles of a proposed bridge support or some such.
Afterwards we had planned to visit restaurants featured on “Diner’s, Drive-ins and Dives”, a food channel show hosted by the punk rock chef, Guy Fieri. We chose “Iron Barley”, a pub that cooks mostly on cast iron and features many local Saint Louis area beers. The neighborhood was a bit iffy but we were able to park right in front. Great bar-b-que pork sandwich and a crisp double IPA made for a great lunch.
What’s this on the menu? “Blaster Pies?”
Our waiter explained that they blended up a filling, then poured it into a pie shell and froze it.
Good enough for us and we ordered them up. The Banana Cream was great and my wife’s chocolate peanut butter was delicious, although frozen pretty thoroughly.
Our friends picked up the tab and we threw down a tip- back to the casino we must go.
Well- I never once had anything close to a winning session. I hit my budgeted stop loss and watched my wife play various slot machines. There is more animation in these things than in most of the cartoons I watched growing up- move over Huckleberry Hound.
We checked out with zero balance on both rooms. The drive back was far easier and we only briefly got delayed by a sign in Kickapoo, Illinois announcing the Jubilee Café featuring homemade pies. That was enough to get us to stop for coffee and pie. Good stuff if you ever happen to be driving through.
Next trip will involve casinos in Bettendorf, Iowa and Atlantic City, New Jersey in May.
Paul and Sonya from Iowa
