Devil Opens Branch Office in Downtown Cleveland

After much turmoil and amid much ballyhoo, the newest Horseshoe opened last night. I'll probably go sometime this summer as part of our annual trip to downtown Cleveland.

Anybody go to the opening?

I don't expect the games to pay well, but understand from reports and VP Free that Ha$$ah flyover operations sometimes pay better than the ones in Vegas. When we go, I'll try to do a quick inventory of the video poker (if there's nothing yet on VP Free) and post it here. I'll also do the same for BJ if necessary. We probably won't get up there until July, though, so if anybody here visits before then, a report would be appreciated.

This facility is located in the old Higbee building which is best known as a filming location for the visit to Santa in "A Christmas Story". Eventually, according to owner Dan Gilbert, a new structure will rise beside the river. Gilbert and/or the city fathers had the "Occupy Cleveland" group removed from Public Square a few weeks ago, which is too bad. Shortly afterwards, the city brought back its mounted contingent, which evokes fond memories of bygone days in people my age.

Parking at the casino, in a deck that fell in once during its construction, is $35, refundable when patrons spend at least 30 minutes feeding their habit.

I'll probably bump this thread a couple times in hope of receiving a report.

Someone I know who is a Pit Boss at another Horseshoe has been in Cleveland since late November training craps dealers.

They sent me $70 in free play. Doubt if I will make the 12 or so hour drive for that.

I would not look for much in VP. In North Mississippi, there is a CET property with 99.9% VP. The 10/6 DDB had to short the SF to 200 to make it legal (100% is not legal in mississippi). Anyway, right next door to that casino is a Horseshoe with some of the worst VP you ever saw.

For someone who only goes to a casino to play VP, I would not recommend the Horseshoe Cleveland. They have no local competition. What incentive would they possibly have to offer 9/6 Jacks?

I have fond childhood memories of the Higbee building... Going there was a big deal. wow.

Wonder if there is any mass trasportation or buses to there??

Pay $35 to go and give money away? How asinine and stupid is that?

The fee will discourage downtown workers from parking there. Of course, if one worked near there and had time to waste, one could just play 1/2 hour each day after work and stop paying to park. It's an expected value of about 5% of the monthly parking fee, plus whatever comps accrue, less losses. Mass transit is easy to Public Square. However, there's a very convenient I-77 spur nearby that makes the drive more attractive to Akron area patrons.

Thanks for the info, Karen. I will wait patiently for my free play to arrive. I'm also waiting to get lucky with Catherine Deneuve.

Maybe someone will post soon on VP Free. There are decent VP choices over the line in Michigan, but as your post said, somehow I doubt Dan Gilbert will feel that he needs to compete.

There may be hope for good games. There is a giant slot parlor in Erie, PA which competes for the Cleveland crowd - and its actually quite popular.

Horseshoe Southern Indiana has plenty of good VP - but there is no universal standard for the Horseshoe properties. The usual scenario is that new casinos start off loose. You wont get a good measure of its true gaming appel until its been open for about 9 months.

I love it- "the fee will discourage downtown workers from parking there". Those that work can't frequent the casino because they are working to support those who won't work, and they would take up the valuable parking spaces. Meanwhile, the freeloaders are spending their unemployment and welfare "benefits" in the casino.I see the sense in it now.

Apparently, the Horseshoe Cleveland is a non smoking casino.

We went to the grand opening. It was a great event. We met a lot of people as we spent the afternoon in the area and stayed at the Renaissance.

The VP is disappointing. The best of the lot is 8/6 JB. The machines are very nice comfortable uprights. They are all the same but some have 8/5JB and others 8/6. They have some sequential royal progressives some which are 9/6 DB. They have an area of STP etc. I didn't really check those pay schedules. We were told that there was no bar poker surprising as I thought I had seen posted somewhere that there was. We spoke to a lot of floor people about wether there was 9/6 JB. One guy claimed that he had a list saying that there were 4, but was unable to find them and tell us. Some said that they may tweek the games in the future. I think all of us should let them know what we want. We put in the word as much as we could.

The Casino is very nice. The food was very good. We felt the buffet was very good. It had perch and kilbasa, some interesting salads and a great dessert bar including a gelatto bar. We had a pasta & meatball dish from Rocco's which was very good.

Disappointing or not, I think it is a good thing for Ohio. It was amazing how many people were there. I know its just the opening, but I think it will be good. It was still busy today, and they would let people in as people left. We, as diamonds could get in any time. We met a lot of great people that work there as well as a blackjack dealer from Las Vegas at Flamingo. He has been there most of the month helping train. His wife is also a dealer and has family in the area. He really enjoyed the perch at the buffet. I told him we like Southpoint in Vegas. He said he lives right by Southpoint and really enjoys playing there.

Yes, it is.

DonDiego didn't see a reference to this on the Horseshoe Cleveland website.

However, he did find a Total Rewards website which compiles questions submitted by curious folks with the following: "Horseshoe Cleveland is a non-smoking facility per State law. There will designated smoking areas located outside the building."
Ref: Contact Us

Perhaps teechur and DonDiego will visit Horseshoe Cleveland someday while attending a Browns game; DonDiego cannot think of any other reason he'd find himself in Cleveland.