By: Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 03:21:26 +0000

When Cherokee first opened, it quickly acquired a reputation as one of the tightest casinos for VP in the entire US. Checking VPFree2, nothing seems to have changed in that regard, unless you go up to the $5 level. Odd that there are a couple of awful .25 games mentioned but nothing at all in $1 and $2–even at worse than 98%.
It’s no surprise that everything there is expensive. “Captive audience” casinos, especially with no nearby competition, have no incentive to give you any kind of break. By captive audience, I mean those in an isolated location that is hard to get to.
You mention the beauty of the surrounding area, and that recalls a reflection I’ve made in the past many times. Vegas is a scorched, barren, ugly wasteland, but many casinos elsewhere are in beautiful and/or interesting surroundings. I remember playing one bright summer day at Harrah’s Tahoe and thinking to myself, “There’s a beautiful lake outside and it’s 77 degrees, so what am I doing in HERE???” Similarly, if I found myself in New Orleans, I wouldn’t spend any time in a casino! If I was in AC and the weather was decent, I’d spend my time on the beach.
My point is that even if you get treated like royalty, I’m wondering if being in a casino when the surroundings are so beautiful results in a net decrease in enjoyment. You don’t get all those perks for free anyway–in order to maintain Plutonium status or whatever it takes, you have to dump in tens and probably hundreds of thousands into the machines. These days, you’re lucky if you get 0.1% ($10 coin-in=1 RC) for playing decent VP at Harrah’s properties. Ten hours of $5 play at 800 hands/hr. (a reasonable amount of play for a weekend) would be $200,000 coin-in. Assuming perfect play on FP JOB, that’ll cost you $920. You get $200 worth of RCs (again, assuming you do get the full 0.1%). So your “free” gambling junket costs $720–and you get $500 worth of overpriced food, plus room comps. Net result: basically break-even. (And yes, I realize you can cut your theoretical loss roughly in half by playing NSUD at that location.) But you spent time and money getting there, and most of the time, you were just banging away at a VP machine, not driving around looking at the gorgeous fall colors. Everything you do in life has an opportunity cost. Also–not an inconsiderable item–you have to keep a huge bankroll reserved to be able to keep up your VIP-level play. If you’re going to play 200K a weekend, that bankroll would have to be a million dollars or more. Is enabling oneself to play high-roller VP the best and highest use of that money? (I personally would give most of it away and stay at Motel 6, but that’s just me.)
Personally, I’m thinking life’s too short. To each his own, of course.

By: MS

MS — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 20:26:02 +0000

You wrote:
> No alcohol can be comped in this casino – a fact
> that is true in most – all? – Native American
> casinos.

On a recent trip to Cherokee I was informed that the casino is in a dry county and rec’d. either local or state gov’t. permission, if they were to open a casino to be able to sell alcohol. x

Comments on: Trip Report – Harrah’s Cherokee – Part 1

By: Kevin Lewis

By: MS