Among all the visitors coming into Phoenix for the upcoming Insight and Fiesta bowls happening here in Arizona next week, there are bound to be a lot of casino gaming fans. For those who like to play, here is a list of our Phoenix and Scottsdale area casinos along with casino-related info on dining, lounges, shows, golf opportunities and more.
Harrah's Ak-Chin is one of several Phoenix area casinos visitors can choose from to play slots, poker and more.
Casino Arizona: Two locations, both of which are just off the Loop 101 freeway making them very accessible to all the major hotels and resorts. Free limo service available by calling 480-850-7790.(more…)
Has your mailbox been as stuffed with casino offers as ours has lately? Thanks to the downturn in the economy, P.B. and I are hearing from every casino we ever stepped foot into over the years. Stacks of promotional flyers for free room stays - now for three or four or more nights at a time! - and invitations to tons of slot, video poker, live poker and black jack tourneys inundate us. (My mail carrier, Veronica, must think Doyle Brunson’s living in my guest room!)
We’re also being showered with bigger and better coupons for “free slot play.” Even our local Indian casinos here in Arizona are not only joining in the marketing fray but upping the ante with $100 for Diamond members at Harrah’s Ak-Chin in Maricopa and $25 from Fort McDowell in Fountain Hills, just to name a couple. Those same offers usually come with food coupons as well. Free buffets, free dinners, free food vouchers - if you’re hungry they’ve got you covered.
Email offers? Check. Offers by phone? Check again. Leather jackets, Dooney & Bourke handbags, gift cards? Check, check, check.
So what really gets us into the casino and sitting at a machine or table? Locally, coupons for free slot play or cash are number one for us with merchandise giveaways a close second. But only if the item is something we want like the Sony PSP® we got last year at Harrah’s Ak-Chin.
When we travel several times each year to Las Vegas, we do look at the offers we’ve gotten when planning the actual dates. We especially enjoy slot and video poker tournaments and try to play in a couple of those each year. Oh, and cash and free slot play and gift cards are good, too. Merchandise doesn’t really get us to go to Las Vegas - too far for a leather jacket with “Caesars Palace” emblazoned on the back.
We’re curious. What are your favorite offers? What gets you to make the date?
Here’s a very smart move from Harrah’s Entertainment. They’ve collaborated with WMS Gaming, makers of the wildly-popular Wizard of Oz machines, (you know, the ones I can never play!) and will introduce a special TOTAL REWARDS® version of WMS Gaming’s new Star Trek machine beginning this week in Las Vegas.
Here’s the skinny from a joint press release dated December 1, 2008 (Emphasis mine) - “Players who are members of Harrah’s TOTAL REWARDS® program will be able to use their cards to create a personalizedand differentiated gaming experience on the STAR TREK themed gaming machines at most of the company’s casinos in North America, as Harrah’s moves forward with a market-by-market implementation plan, subject to additional jurisdictional regulatory approvals.
“This server-enabled, networked gaming platform provides players with the unique ability to personalize their game play, allowing them to save their play status and unlock additional bonus rounds and game episodes over time. ” (more…)
So it’s now the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving and I haven’t set foot in a store all weekend. (Well, except for the grocery store and that was just a quick stop for bread to make turkey sandwiches!) No Christmas shopping, no bargain-hunting, no “Black-Friday-up-at-o’dark-thirty-to-hit-the-mall” stories, nothing … nada. Instead, P.B. and I headed out to Harrah’s Ak-Chin in Maricopa for Black Friday where we played our favorite video poker game, Spin Poker.™
Harrah's Ak-Chin casino in Maricopa, AZ.
Harrah’s was actually pretty crowded Friday, probably due in part to people using the free slot play coupons — good for the holiday weekend only – like the $100 ones P.B. and I had just received in the mail. (Way to get people in the doors, Ak-Chin marketing!) Plus Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are when the qualifying drawings are held for the $1,000,000 giveaway finale coming up on December 28 at Ak-Chin so I’m sure lots of players came out for that, too.
We had a fun day at Harrah’s — much more fun than slogging through the stores looking for some Holy Grail of gifts. We each started out playing Triple Double Bonus games on nickel Spin Poker Deluxe™ and not hitting much at first but then the cards started coming and we each hit for some aces, some deuces, and then threes with a kicker. I even hit for a Royal Flush in hearts. P.B. had the “best pay of the day” (we always have a fun competition going between us) with his four aces and a kicker on two lines which paid a little over $440. We stayed most of the afternoon and left with a little more than we walked in with so a good trip in more ways than one.
Oh, and on a side note, the bank of new Wizard of Oz™ slot machines was crazy-crowded with people gathered around watching the players and rooting them on during bonus rounds. People love these new Wizard of Oz machines! Guess you have to get there early to snag a seat at one.
The rest of the weekend I’ve spent pulling together the holiday “Gift Guide“ along with the other gift suggestions you’ll find here on our site — all for you to give to the players on your holiday list. The Internet is a wide and wonderful place if you know where to look!
And how did you spend your holiday weekend? Get any gaming in you want to tell us about?
Just a quick reminder for Harrah’s Total Rewards® club players — this week is the 2008 Great Gift Wrap Up® at Caesars Palace. From December 1 through December 7, redeem club points earned throughout the year at Harrah’s Las Vegas properties for a wide array of gifts including jewelry, electronics, luggage, kitchen gadgets plus sporting goods, accessories and more. Great brand names in electronics include Sony® and Apple® with high-end accessories like Dooney & Bourke® handbags and Movado® watches also well-represented.
To view your points and the gift selection catalog, visit the Great Gift Wrap Up site here. Also, while you’re in town, check to see if The Mirage is previewing it’s new Volcano show yet. A recent video posted at You Tube gives us this look at the fiery new attraction.
I LOVE that The Mirage Volcano will reopen in December.
UPDATE: The Mirage Volcano opened December 8th to thunderous applause. See the Mirage Volcano video here.
I don’t know what I’m more excited about — The Mirage volcano returning to the Las Vegas Strip this December or the $33 a night room rates in my player’s club offer!
I have to say, we have really missed seeing the volcano explode at The Mirage during our last couple of trips to Las Vegas so reading that it will “thunder back to life” next month is pretty cool. And, not only is it back, but it sounds like it will be better than ever. Here, let me just quote from the mailing — (more…)
Workers recently installed this sign at the new Gila River Casino, Lone Butte.
The new Gila River casino, Lone Butte, at Loop 202 and Kyrene Road in Chandler, Arizona is coming together nicely for the scheduled November 20 opening date. I am really looking forward to playing in this new Phoenix-area casino which is slated to have 850 slot machines, a 750-seat bingo hall, new high-limit player areas and exciting table games including Fortune Pai Gow Poker Progressive, Let It Ride Three-Card Bonus and Three-Card Poker. And, for a non-smoker like me, the thought of a state-of-the-art smoke removal system built right into the facility makes me swoon.
In grand opening promotions, casino customers can play their favorite games for cash and prizes including a new Pontiac Soltice which will be given away on December 4th. Prior to the main event car giveaway, the “Luck Has a New Home” promo will award cash prizes to players from 6 - 10 p.m., November 5, 12 — at the current Lone Butte location — and on the 26th at the new casino. (more…)
While maybe not a fortune, Fort McDowell had $1200 waiting for me.
Sounds like an infomercial, doesn’t it? The funny thing is - it’s true! It happened to me this week at Fort McDowell Casino in Arizona and it proves - again - why you should use your player’s club card.
Earlier this week, P.B. and I decided to head out to “The Fort” to take advantage of some coupons that came in our quarterly “Fortune Club” mailers - one for $25 in cash, another for free dinners. After we turned in our cash coupons, we sat down to play at a couple of All-Star Poker™ machines. I chose the Spin Poker™ option - my favorite game - playing Double Double Bonus in the 10¢ denomination and, on my third hand, hit for a couple hundred dollars with four 2’s and a kicker. About 10 hands later, I was dealt the ace, king, queen and ten of spades…held the four cards… held my breath…and YES! Got the JACK for royal flushes on three lines and $400 x 3 = $1200 (and a W-9!)
With the free dinners thrown in, this turned out to be a profitable trip for us and all because of a $25 coupon. I think it’s more than we made in the stock market this week and a lot more fun!
There were a lot of people at the casino that same night, many of whom were cashing in coupons so The Fort’s promotion is paying off in terms of getting people in the door. It would be nice to think that they - and casinos everywhere - would continue to offer decent incentives to frequent players, especially in this economy. Jean Scott has a couple of really good articles this week on her blog at Anthony Curtis’ Las Vegas Advisor. In an interesting post from October 18, she talks about the different ways casinos can react to the economic downturn and in a second post from October 23; she outlines some “Slot Club Changes.” You’ll see, when you read them, how the two articles are related.
From my own perspective, while local casinos have no where near the competition that Las Vegas, Reno or Atlantic City casinos have, I would like to tell them that offering decent club incentives would keep frequent players coming in - good economy or bad. Don’t give me $5 or $10 to show up - at midnight - or other ridiculously-low, crazily-limited “bonuses.” You’ll weather the storm and build player loyalty to boot. Win, win.
