Midwest Gaming Journal

Smoke Are Cheaper in Indiana

Here's some more depressing news from the G2E:

"In the Land of Lincoln, gaming revenue has trended downward all year, including a 25.6 percent drop year over year in October, said Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa Gaming Association.

Illinois' decline has happened even as gaming revenue in neighboring Iowa, where there's no smoking ban in casinos, rose or stayed steady from January to October, Ehrecke said."

Why are we listening to this guy from Iowa (I don't trust people from Iowa in general), doesn't the Illinois Gaming Association have anything to say about getting crushed since the smoking ban? Either gamblers really like to smoke, or the tobacco tax is too high in Chicago and its making the nicotine freaks chose between buying a pack or hitting the boats. 

Yes Kansas You Will Have Gambling...Maybe

Despite gloomy casino forecasts coming out of the Global Gaming Expo is Las Vegas this week, and the announcement that two of the four developers for Kansas' state controlled casino have backed out sighting the cash crunch, there's still hope for those casinos to get up and running sooner than later.

Bad Deal for Harrah's in Kansas

Citing a bad economy, Harrah's is pulling out of a deal to run a casino in Kansas. Recently, a vote passed to allow a few government run casinos in the state. This slip up by one of the world's largest casino operators has prompted veteran casino scribe Rick Alm to once again question the effectiveness of state run gambling halls.

Wisconsin: Good Blackjack - Bad Poker

I've been traveling in Wisconsin over the past month and stopped by some of the state's biggest, and smallest casinos. Overall I found most casinos offer double-deck blackjack games that pay the critical 3:2 on a natural 21. I've also played cards at some grubby so-called card rooms. Here's a list of the best and worst for card games.

BEST BLACKJACK

1. Menominee Casino & Bingo - Keshena This game is identical to downtown Las Vegas tables with one exception: Great penetration. Up to 66%. $10 min with at least one table going at all time. Yummy.
2. Ho Chunk Casino - Baraboo $10 minimum tables on the main floor. No doubles after splits seems to be the biggest drawback. Very nice and new floor. 
3. Oneida Casino - Green Bay The double deck games are green chippers and are located in the high limit area. Sightly better than Potowatomi, only because of the penetration (55%-65%)
4. Potowatomi Bingo Casino - Milwaukee A handful of games on the main casino floor. Penetration sucks at barely over a deck. If there's more than one person sitting with you it's almost pointless.

         BEST POKER

1. Potowatomi Bingo Casino - Milwaukee The 20+ table room is brand-new. Spacious and friendly, albeit busy. Games that are spread are a little weird: No $1/$2 no-limit, just a $3/$5 no-limit $600 max. Usually the only limit games run are $2/$4 and $4/$8.
2. Menominee Casino & Bingo - Keshena A dozen of the most underused poker tables in Wisconsin. Not a bad room for the area, but cash games are lame - mostly low stakes limit games with an Omaha game on Thursday. Frequent tournaments look appealing.
3. Oneida Casino (Mason Street) - Green Bay This grubby room has a handful of tables and a friendly staff. $3/$6 limit and $1/$2 no-limit seem to run perpetually. There are a few weekly tournaments.
4. Ho Chunk Casino - Baraboo The poker room is just a section of the horse book (I think so all of the degenerate gamblers can be kept in one area). It's smoky, dingy, oddly-lit, and you have to play cards next to those damned horse-bettors. One point of note: There was a $6/$12 limit mixed game of Hold'em and Omaha Hi/Low (sometimes referred to as a HO game, but be careful how and with whom you use that terminology.)   

I was only able to sample a handful of the 27 casinos in the great state of Wisconsin. Many of the gambling joints are slots only, the ones I hit are the larger ones with tables. While none seemed overly crowded, they were far from dead.

New Poker Room Coming To Elgin

You say poker is so 2005, and that the game's popularity bubble has burst? Well, while some card rooms in Las Vegas are closing and others are cutting staff it's a different story in Illinois. Sure the numbers aren't what they once were, but most rooms are still busy - albeit not packed.

The Grand Victoria in Elgin is going to open up a small table poker room soon, according to their web site. The Grand Vic is a nice place, and sorely in need of poker. The area should support it with very few other options near by. TMGJ will post a review of it as soon as we get out there.

No Dice For Ohio Casino But The Sky's The Limit In Missouri

The proposed Ohio casino, which would have been the largest in the Midwest, was shot down on election day by nearly a 2-1 margin. But that doesn't seem to have dampered developer's hopes to build Ohio's first gambling hall.

Meanwhile Missouri voted down the $500 loss limit in the state's casinos. Which could ultimately hurt Illinois casinos in the same market as the St. Louis casinos. Illinois casinos lost gamblers across state lines when the smoking ban kicked in at the beginning of the year. Missouri casinos still allow smoking.