We just got back from a two-day casino bus tour in south Florida. Someone on LVA had recommended the company, Hollywood Tours in Spring Hill, FL; wish I remember who, he said that his mother had taken similar tours. Anyway, my mother-in-law is down from Pittsburgh for a visit, and liked the sound of the trip. It was pretty hectic; pick-up in Clearwater (about 30 minutes north of us, we’re in St. Pete) at 7:30am on Thursday, then stops at the Seminole casino in Immokalee (just north of the Everglades) and Hard Rock in Hollywood. 9 hours in a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, then the Seminole casino in Coconut Creek (near Ft. Lauderdale) and back to Immokalee on Friday, back to Clearwater around 9pm. The cost was $109 pp, and included $105 in FP and $22.50 in food vouchers per person. Long two days, but a good way to see a bunch of different casinos. My mother-in-law and wife mostly played slots, and are near even; I played mostly VP and got killed. Go figure. So anyway,
THURSDAY
Early pick-up, and about a three-hour bus ride to Immokalee. It’s a relatively small casino, friendly folks. Plenty of 9/6 JoB for dollars and higher, also Illinois Deuces for quarters and higher. The only bad thing is that pretty much all of the VP, at all denoms, is programmed for max coins of 10. You get the royal premium at 5 or more, but if you push the max bet button, you’re playing 10 coins. Caveat emptor. I played mostly dollar JoB, also some Illinois Deuces. As foreshadowing, I’ll tell you that, until my last session Friday afternoon, I never got anything higher than a straight. Worst VP ever. Oh, I did get a quad and three FHs on the Deuces machines, natural of course. Pisses me off when that happens. You know, the only time in my life I’ve gotten two back-to-back natural quads was on a Deuces machine. But anyway, I played and lost, walked up the street and got a salt cod turnover from some little Haitian bakery (lots of migrant farm workers in Immokalee, almost all of the restaurants and businesses are either Mexican or Haitian). Played and lost some more, also watched some poor bastard playing JoB in the high-limit area. There was plenty of 9/6 on the floor, but he was playing an 8/5 machine at $5, maybe didn’t notice the 10 coins for max bet, so he was playing $50 per hand. Terrible player, was keeping three-card straights over high cards, pairs with ace kickers, etc. Still, he turned $200 into $1200 with that kind of play. Kind of reminds me of the keno players who laugh at the good VP and BJ players. Bastards. Anyway, we had lunch at the 1st Avenue Deli in the casino. Surprisingly good. I’m Jewish, in my 50s and from New York, so I have a good sense about deli. This wasn’t quite it (Boar’s Head cold cuts, for example), but was about as close an approximation of a good New York deli as I’ve run into in recent years. Kind of ironic that it would be in Immokalee. Had some tasty cabbage soup (sweet and sour, of course; wife and mother-in-law had mushroom-barley) and a reuben.
Two hour trip to Hard Rock in Hollywood. Nice place, huge, also smells exactly like the Hard Rock here in Tampa. Wonder if it smells the same in Vegas. Anyway, this is a really nice property, guess that’s where Anna Nicole Smith died, whoever she is. Lots of rich young people with expensive cars and disposable income. Anyway, plenty of 9/6 JoB for dollars and some Illinois Deuces for quarters, again played mostly dollars and again couldn’t catch anything better than trips and maybe one straight. Had dinner at the Blue Plate, their coffee shop. Had some non-traditional but fairly tasty matzo ball soup (interestingly enough, some family was having a birthday celebration and was brought a similar bowl of matzo ball soup with a candle in the ball) and an okay grilled skirt steak. Some guy next to me was being a total dick. Wouldn’t take off his MP3 player when the waiter came and then mostly ignored the waiter so he had to ask everything two or three times and was generally really rude to him. Also chain-smoked (Indian land, so no restrictions on smoking in the restaurant), didn’t speak much English. I think he was Belgian, judging by his use of mayonnaise on his fries. Played more, lost more, played a little virtual BJ (by the way, the BJ at both Immokalee and HR Hollywood was $10 from an 8-deck shoe; HR had some $5 tables with CSMs but at 6:5). Back on the bus, stayed at Cambria Suites, a surprisingly nice chain hotel in Dania (between Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale). Really nice room and pool area, but we were there for 9 hours, so couldn’t really check it out.
FRIDAY
Up early, had some breakfast at the hotel (free breakfast, including some mediocre sausage, bacon, eggs, etc., but good coffee). Quick bus ride to the casino in Coconut Creek. This was a tight place, no playable VP at all. We played some virtual BJ, got really crappy cards and lost, also fooled around with some slots. A lot of people’s players club cards weren’t working, and the young dweeb at the players club was a pain in the ass. Basically assumed that everyone had forgotten their PIN, or was putting the card in the wrong slot, or something. Sucks when someone is too stupid to realize that you’re not the stupid one. Wound up at the buffet for lunch; small and kind of lackluster. Finished up at Coconut Creek, back on the bus, 2 hours back to Immokalee. Coolest part of the trip was the northbound trip from Alligator Alley on SR 29. Tons of alligators in and around the drainage canal along the east side of the road. These were big ones, too, many over 8 feet and probably a few over 40 feet. Saw at least 50 or 60. Anyway, back to Immokalee, played some more and lost some more. Finally hit two FHs on dollar JoB, cashed out ahead, but lost some more later. Got a sandwich (pastrami, corned beef and cole slaw on rye) at the deli for the 3 hour bus ride home.
All in all a fun trip, and a good way to scope out some other casinos. Pretty hectic schedule, though, but the price was right and I didn’t have to drive. Thanks for reading!
THURSDAY
Early pick-up, and about a three-hour bus ride to Immokalee. It’s a relatively small casino, friendly folks. Plenty of 9/6 JoB for dollars and higher, also Illinois Deuces for quarters and higher. The only bad thing is that pretty much all of the VP, at all denoms, is programmed for max coins of 10. You get the royal premium at 5 or more, but if you push the max bet button, you’re playing 10 coins. Caveat emptor. I played mostly dollar JoB, also some Illinois Deuces. As foreshadowing, I’ll tell you that, until my last session Friday afternoon, I never got anything higher than a straight. Worst VP ever. Oh, I did get a quad and three FHs on the Deuces machines, natural of course. Pisses me off when that happens. You know, the only time in my life I’ve gotten two back-to-back natural quads was on a Deuces machine. But anyway, I played and lost, walked up the street and got a salt cod turnover from some little Haitian bakery (lots of migrant farm workers in Immokalee, almost all of the restaurants and businesses are either Mexican or Haitian). Played and lost some more, also watched some poor bastard playing JoB in the high-limit area. There was plenty of 9/6 on the floor, but he was playing an 8/5 machine at $5, maybe didn’t notice the 10 coins for max bet, so he was playing $50 per hand. Terrible player, was keeping three-card straights over high cards, pairs with ace kickers, etc. Still, he turned $200 into $1200 with that kind of play. Kind of reminds me of the keno players who laugh at the good VP and BJ players. Bastards. Anyway, we had lunch at the 1st Avenue Deli in the casino. Surprisingly good. I’m Jewish, in my 50s and from New York, so I have a good sense about deli. This wasn’t quite it (Boar’s Head cold cuts, for example), but was about as close an approximation of a good New York deli as I’ve run into in recent years. Kind of ironic that it would be in Immokalee. Had some tasty cabbage soup (sweet and sour, of course; wife and mother-in-law had mushroom-barley) and a reuben.
Two hour trip to Hard Rock in Hollywood. Nice place, huge, also smells exactly like the Hard Rock here in Tampa. Wonder if it smells the same in Vegas. Anyway, this is a really nice property, guess that’s where Anna Nicole Smith died, whoever she is. Lots of rich young people with expensive cars and disposable income. Anyway, plenty of 9/6 JoB for dollars and some Illinois Deuces for quarters, again played mostly dollars and again couldn’t catch anything better than trips and maybe one straight. Had dinner at the Blue Plate, their coffee shop. Had some non-traditional but fairly tasty matzo ball soup (interestingly enough, some family was having a birthday celebration and was brought a similar bowl of matzo ball soup with a candle in the ball) and an okay grilled skirt steak. Some guy next to me was being a total dick. Wouldn’t take off his MP3 player when the waiter came and then mostly ignored the waiter so he had to ask everything two or three times and was generally really rude to him. Also chain-smoked (Indian land, so no restrictions on smoking in the restaurant), didn’t speak much English. I think he was Belgian, judging by his use of mayonnaise on his fries. Played more, lost more, played a little virtual BJ (by the way, the BJ at both Immokalee and HR Hollywood was $10 from an 8-deck shoe; HR had some $5 tables with CSMs but at 6:5). Back on the bus, stayed at Cambria Suites, a surprisingly nice chain hotel in Dania (between Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale). Really nice room and pool area, but we were there for 9 hours, so couldn’t really check it out.
FRIDAY
Up early, had some breakfast at the hotel (free breakfast, including some mediocre sausage, bacon, eggs, etc., but good coffee). Quick bus ride to the casino in Coconut Creek. This was a tight place, no playable VP at all. We played some virtual BJ, got really crappy cards and lost, also fooled around with some slots. A lot of people’s players club cards weren’t working, and the young dweeb at the players club was a pain in the ass. Basically assumed that everyone had forgotten their PIN, or was putting the card in the wrong slot, or something. Sucks when someone is too stupid to realize that you’re not the stupid one. Wound up at the buffet for lunch; small and kind of lackluster. Finished up at Coconut Creek, back on the bus, 2 hours back to Immokalee. Coolest part of the trip was the northbound trip from Alligator Alley on SR 29. Tons of alligators in and around the drainage canal along the east side of the road. These were big ones, too, many over 8 feet and probably a few over 40 feet. Saw at least 50 or 60. Anyway, back to Immokalee, played some more and lost some more. Finally hit two FHs on dollar JoB, cashed out ahead, but lost some more later. Got a sandwich (pastrami, corned beef and cole slaw on rye) at the deli for the 3 hour bus ride home.
All in all a fun trip, and a good way to scope out some other casinos. Pretty hectic schedule, though, but the price was right and I didn’t have to drive. Thanks for reading!
