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I visited Four Winds a week or so ago to play a bit of poker.
Before I had a seat at the live table, I tried just a bit of video poker.
Near the live poker room there were 9/6 JOB, 8/5 Bonus, and 9/7 Double Bonus that were in dollars. IN both the Four Winds and in the Horseshoe near Chicago that seems to be the pattern.
I don't play dollars. But I won't play short pays.
So i decided to try just $20 in the dollar machine while waiting for a poker seat. I picked the 8/5 Bonus hoping to hit a quad in my very few spins. Early on I hit trips so that gave me a few more spins, but soon I was down to my final spin. The machine dealt me trip 7's. And then the fourth one came up. So I cashed out with $130 profit.
Unfortunately, the poker randomness was not as generous. I slow played my flopped trip 10's and called until there were just two of us left who were not all in. I had $52 left and felt very confident that my hand would at least beat my last opponent even if I lost the main pot to one of the others. I put him all-in. Sure enough he had flopped trip eights and I was way ahead. Only one card could help him. One chance. 39 to 1 odds in my favor. And on the river he caught it, the fourth eight.
That loss stayed with me all afternoon so I went home down $15 for about four hours of play.
I did not tour the entire casino, but I liked the fresh feel of it. Everything still looks very clean and new.
I especially like the signs that point to the poker room or the buffet. I found this one of the easiest casinos to navigate. On the other hand many slot layers say that the machines are just too close together and hard to get around.
I did not eat in the buffet, but my son liked it. Poker players seemed to think it was not as good as the nearby Blue Chip and other since have said it is not worth the money.
If you want to go out to eat try Hannah's about 2 and a half miles from the casino in New Buffalo.
http://www.hannahsrestaurant.com/
We have been going there for years and most think the food is great. I go for the Indiana Duck (same breed as Long Island Duck only raised midwest) which is the best duck in the world as far as I am concerned.
Also, along the Red Arrow Highway is a favorite hot dog/hamburger joint called Redamak's
http://www.redamaks.com/
and an ice cream joint called Oink's
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/eats/oinks.htm
I am not much for food that comes with fries and should not be eating iced cream, but they are favorites of the younger set and have great atmosphere.
Poker Rake at Four Winds where all poker is dealerless is $4 with another dollar for the promotion. No dealer tip. At Harrah's outside Chicago the rake is just $3 on the tables, but was a ridiculous five plus one in the main poker room and there was no bad beat offered, just a rake for a future bad beat.
Poker machines at Four Winds are smoke free and in the poker room. There are no live tables. I found it all delightful except I could not catch cards to make much money. Poker machines at Horseshoe are just outside the smoke free poker room and smoking is allowed. So they attract smoking poker players and all the live players take breaks right next to the tables. If you remember the El Cortez before the poker room went smoke free and the new smoke elimination venting cleaned up the smokiness, then you can get a feel for what Horseshoe poker machines are like. Blinds in both places are 50 cent / one dollar for one hundred max no limit. Four Winds also had bigger games.
I put more details and thoughts on dealerless machines on this post:
http://forum.americancasinoguide.com/showthread.php?p=1867#post1867
Before I had a seat at the live table, I tried just a bit of video poker.
Near the live poker room there were 9/6 JOB, 8/5 Bonus, and 9/7 Double Bonus that were in dollars. IN both the Four Winds and in the Horseshoe near Chicago that seems to be the pattern.
I don't play dollars. But I won't play short pays.
So i decided to try just $20 in the dollar machine while waiting for a poker seat. I picked the 8/5 Bonus hoping to hit a quad in my very few spins. Early on I hit trips so that gave me a few more spins, but soon I was down to my final spin. The machine dealt me trip 7's. And then the fourth one came up. So I cashed out with $130 profit.
Unfortunately, the poker randomness was not as generous. I slow played my flopped trip 10's and called until there were just two of us left who were not all in. I had $52 left and felt very confident that my hand would at least beat my last opponent even if I lost the main pot to one of the others. I put him all-in. Sure enough he had flopped trip eights and I was way ahead. Only one card could help him. One chance. 39 to 1 odds in my favor. And on the river he caught it, the fourth eight.
That loss stayed with me all afternoon so I went home down $15 for about four hours of play.
I did not tour the entire casino, but I liked the fresh feel of it. Everything still looks very clean and new.
I especially like the signs that point to the poker room or the buffet. I found this one of the easiest casinos to navigate. On the other hand many slot layers say that the machines are just too close together and hard to get around.
I did not eat in the buffet, but my son liked it. Poker players seemed to think it was not as good as the nearby Blue Chip and other since have said it is not worth the money.
If you want to go out to eat try Hannah's about 2 and a half miles from the casino in New Buffalo.
http://www.hannahsrestaurant.com/
We have been going there for years and most think the food is great. I go for the Indiana Duck (same breed as Long Island Duck only raised midwest) which is the best duck in the world as far as I am concerned.
Also, along the Red Arrow Highway is a favorite hot dog/hamburger joint called Redamak's
http://www.redamaks.com/
and an ice cream joint called Oink's
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/eats/oinks.htm
I am not much for food that comes with fries and should not be eating iced cream, but they are favorites of the younger set and have great atmosphere.
Poker Rake at Four Winds where all poker is dealerless is $4 with another dollar for the promotion. No dealer tip. At Harrah's outside Chicago the rake is just $3 on the tables, but was a ridiculous five plus one in the main poker room and there was no bad beat offered, just a rake for a future bad beat.
Poker machines at Four Winds are smoke free and in the poker room. There are no live tables. I found it all delightful except I could not catch cards to make much money. Poker machines at Horseshoe are just outside the smoke free poker room and smoking is allowed. So they attract smoking poker players and all the live players take breaks right next to the tables. If you remember the El Cortez before the poker room went smoke free and the new smoke elimination venting cleaned up the smokiness, then you can get a feel for what Horseshoe poker machines are like. Blinds in both places are 50 cent / one dollar for one hundred max no limit. Four Winds also had bigger games.
I put more details and thoughts on dealerless machines on this post:
http://forum.americancasinoguide.com/showthread.php?p=1867#post1867