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Bob Dancer writes a video poker column for beginners to experts. He also writes a column with Jeffrey Compton, "Player's Edge", featuring information on promotions at various Las Vegas casinos. Player's Edge is published each Friday in the Neon section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Click here to send Bob Dancer an e-mail.

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Jul 17, 2007

East of Chicago

I recently spent several days in northwest Indiana, immediately east of Chicago. There are four casinos there so of course I checked them out. It's definitely not Las Vegas, but knowledgeable players who play for half-dollars and higher will find a few opportunities. Quarter and nickel players should consider other casino destinations.

For half-dollars and dollars, the best games are found at Majestic Star, in Gary, Indiana. You'll find ample games in the 99.5%+ range, including 9/6 Jacks or Better (99.5%), NSU Deuces Wild (99.7%), and 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe (99.6%). Apparently they had 8/5 Super Aces Bonus (99.9%) until recently, but I didn't find any this trip.

The slot club at this casino returns 0.1%, with one double point day a week for seniors (age 50+). Generous comps are available, but the food outlets (for the most part) are much-lower-than-average quality.

This casino also sends you coupons in the mail. It turns out on my recent trip I gambled on a Wednesday and a Thursday. Although the exact details of the gambling will be shared my September "Casino Player" column, it turns out that their "fiscal week for determining bounce back cash" is from Thursday to Wednesday. I lost "big" on Wednesday and the bounceback was 10% of my loss. I won "really big" on Thursday, and the bounceback was a modest amount. Still, they time the two checks so I can redeem both of themredeem both of them on one day, and the total is big enough to make another trip, so that is what I'll do.

They do have decent $5 games, including all of the above games plus Two Pair Joker Wild (99.9%). One problem is that Indiana has a 3.4% state withholding on W2Gs. This definitely lowers the return on each of these games.

The Horseshoe Casino is owned by Harrah's. Although you use your normal Harrah's Total Rewards card there, this is NOT a typical Harrah's casino. The Horseshoe was recently owned by Jack Binion, who very much stressed friendliness, and it is very apparent that Binion's influence pervades the casino as much as Harrah's.

In the regular casino, video poker is by far the worst in the area. 96% and 97% games abound. In the High Limit room, however, they have $1 Fifty Play machines with all of the games that Majestic Star has, PLUS 8/5 Super Aces Bonus. On a Fifty Play machine, you can play any number of hands, from one to fifty, at full odds. Playing on this machine gives the dollar player good video poker, plus the room itself is very nice, including free snacks.

Although normally the Harrah's properties receive no same-day cash back, Horseshoe returns about 0.12%. I played a bit on dollar Ten Play 8/5 Super Aces Bonus. As at all Harrah's properties, I earned one base point per $10 played. I earned no bonus points, which wasn't a surprise. In Las Vegas, you receive no bonus points for 9/6 Jacks, which is considerably tighter than this game.

If you're Diamond or Seven Stars level at any Harrah's property, you have that same status at Horseshoe, including access to their lounges. I played a small amount there and received a "come back and visit us" check for $30. It's way to small to justify a separate trip to Chicago, but since I'll be there to collect from Majestic Star, I'll collect from the Horseshoe as well.

The Resorts casino has recently been sold to Ameristar, although Ameristar hasn't taken over the management yet. Currently it has the worst video poker in the area, with dollar 9/6 Double Double Bonus (99.0%), plus five progressives adding up to 1%, being the only game in the house returning in excess of 99%. Hopefully when Ameristar takes over, a better environment for video poker players will be created.

The Blue Chip casino is 30 or so miles east of the others. It is much larger and appears to be land-based, rather than ship-based. It is a Boyd casino, so you'll see things in common with Sam's Town and other Boyd properties.

Dollar and higher players will find a few decent games, including 9/6 Jacks or Better, but outside of these few games, the games are almost as tight as they are on the Horseshoe. The slot club returns 0.17% for video poker players, which is the highest in the area.

These are all blue collar casinos. You will not find them particularly elegant. The gambling is not sufficient to make a special trip to go there, but if you find yourself in Chicago or slightly east and you're in the mood to gamble, it isn't too bad.