Casinos Are No Longer Fun for Mel B.

5 January 2025

By Jerry Stickman

From Mel B.

Hello Mr. Stickman

I know I am late to the subject, but I recently saw your articles asking players about their casino play, which they preferred etc.

I have played/witnessed some form of gambling in one form or fashion since I was a child. My father raised greyhounds for racing, & we would spend many Saturdays at the track with him. As he aged, he stopped racing and played primarily at tribal casinos in our area.

I have very fond memories of those days. I remember the free buffets, the birthday gifts, being treated like a VIP no matter how you played or how much. And he tipped well, I learned that lesson from him.

Nowadays if you aren't a high roller, or a slot gaming channel on YouTube, you are just an average schmo who is treated like you're nothing and your money is worth less than that in my opinion.

I personally have not had a jackpot payout in several years. I refuse to play past my limits in order to get a bonus like you see NG slots on YouTube (as well as others) doing on a nightly basis. Now I play mostly in Vegas because I live in SW Nevada. I play slots so my comparisons are probably skewed. We go out for a night on a special occasion, and hope to have comps so we can eat cheap. Nope. Barely $5 free play, and $5 for food.

Uninviting to put it bluntly, so we stay away.

However, my skepticism has been delightfully given hope in the form of the arrival of TRIBAL CASINOS on the strip! One casino is an offshoot of the San Manuel tribe, and boy are they a welcomed sight! FINALLY, we are treated like we matter.

We ate once in their BBQ restaurant, and I left a great review because it was deserved. The owner personally emailed me and offered his personal appreciation with a link to make future reservations on his page. We are comped well both in play and dining as well as comp nights for weekdays. There was also FREE PARKING and a clean atmosphere! This casino is our favorite place to play now - and rightfully so. It will continue to be until the strip casinos loosen up their purse strings and treat locals with some dignity.

My opinion is the commercial casinos better get on the ball before other tribal casinos are completed or they may end up groveling for us “lower limit locals” to return to their establishments in a hurry!

And that is how I see it!
Sincerely
MB
A lifelong player

Hi Mel,

I am very happy that you set and honor your playing limits.

Thank you very much for your insights. Things were hard enough on lower limit players before COVID. Then, during the pandemic, bargains could be once again easily found. They ended with a vengeance once things opened back up and crowds returned to Sin City.

It seems that corporate casinos are trying to recoup all losses and build record profits now. They are not cutting anyone any slack. As the saying goes, they are getting while the getting’s good.

There is no real long-term vision in corporate America – including corporate casinos. They are looking for consistently increased profits without a thought of how that may affect the future.

Casino goers can only hope that tribal casinos will influence corporate casinos and not the other way around.

Time will tell, Mel. Time will tell.

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small.

Jerry “Stickman”

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines and 888casino.com. He authored the video poker section of “Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker!” You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerryg@gmail.com