Wednesday, December 14, 2005
In-COMP-arable!
Monz wanders over to the County Cafe for a chicken caesar salad (W/ black olives!) and an apple. "Pretty good."
Yesterday the editors wandered over to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond Indiana for a little pre-EIC birthday fun. We must say, we were mightily impressed with everything about Horseshoe...except the casino itself. We loved the needlessly long driveway to get to the place, the way it looks so big and opulent from the outside (with only a hint of faux-dom, like the set on a big Hollywood production), how parking was teaming with security people, how all the staff were exceedingly friendly and helpful. Most of all we loved the buffet! (Our original plan was for the steakhouse, but we were priced out of that) We've been told that casinos tend to have good buffets, but this spread made the Old Country Buffet look like a box of store-brand macarroni and cheese by comparison. Beasts of all description, including ox tail, lamb, dry rub beef ribs -- you name it, and all that we tried was pretty tasty (and didn't make us yak!). The pizza and desert bar (which included a variety of sugar free deserts had we taken a diabetic friend) were aces too. We were too stuffed to try the salad bar or the Chinese food section. But then it was through the ominous ropes, onto the boat and into the casino for some "gaming." First we had to sign up for a multipurpose ID card (the "Winners Circle") so we could "earn" valuable comps. They asked us if we would be playing tables or machines. We said machines, and they said we would earn comp points at the machines but not the tables (though we were free to play at the tables if we wanted). With that, we went in. Our first impression was that it was awfully smokey for the handful of smokers we observed. Our second was that these slot machines are wayyyyyy too expensive. Nearly all the machines were $1, with the default spin costing $2. We had planned to spend a good part of the evening spinning $.25 slots and drinking comp diet colas. Ha! We got through one diet cola and before we knew it the budget was blown (which, according to the gaming editor, is way out of wack with what they claim the house advantage was). We took one last look at the crowd of action-seeking somebodys and decrepit-looking nobodies and left the room, strongly smelling (if not reeking) of cigarettes. We waited in line to check our comps. Didn't earn any! The editors resolved to go to another casino at a later date to compare buffets and comps -- maybe Trump -- but not until a sufficient period of time has passed to reassure us that we're not going to become a tragic tale of addiction.
Monz wanders over to the County Cafe for a chicken caesar salad (W/ black olives!) and an apple. "Pretty good."
Yesterday the editors wandered over to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond Indiana for a little pre-EIC birthday fun. We must say, we were mightily impressed with everything about Horseshoe...except the casino itself. We loved the needlessly long driveway to get to the place, the way it looks so big and opulent from the outside (with only a hint of faux-dom, like the set on a big Hollywood production), how parking was teaming with security people, how all the staff were exceedingly friendly and helpful. Most of all we loved the buffet! (Our original plan was for the steakhouse, but we were priced out of that) We've been told that casinos tend to have good buffets, but this spread made the Old Country Buffet look like a box of store-brand macarroni and cheese by comparison. Beasts of all description, including ox tail, lamb, dry rub beef ribs -- you name it, and all that we tried was pretty tasty (and didn't make us yak!). The pizza and desert bar (which included a variety of sugar free deserts had we taken a diabetic friend) were aces too. We were too stuffed to try the salad bar or the Chinese food section. But then it was through the ominous ropes, onto the boat and into the casino for some "gaming." First we had to sign up for a multipurpose ID card (the "Winners Circle") so we could "earn" valuable comps. They asked us if we would be playing tables or machines. We said machines, and they said we would earn comp points at the machines but not the tables (though we were free to play at the tables if we wanted). With that, we went in. Our first impression was that it was awfully smokey for the handful of smokers we observed. Our second was that these slot machines are wayyyyyy too expensive. Nearly all the machines were $1, with the default spin costing $2. We had planned to spend a good part of the evening spinning $.25 slots and drinking comp diet colas. Ha! We got through one diet cola and before we knew it the budget was blown (which, according to the gaming editor, is way out of wack with what they claim the house advantage was). We took one last look at the crowd of action-seeking somebodys and decrepit-looking nobodies and left the room, strongly smelling (if not reeking) of cigarettes. We waited in line to check our comps. Didn't earn any! The editors resolved to go to another casino at a later date to compare buffets and comps -- maybe Trump -- but not until a sufficient period of time has passed to reassure us that we're not going to become a tragic tale of addiction.
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