Niagara falls - trip report

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NIAGAGA FALLS - TRIP REPORT

This report isn't cruise related but it is vacation related and casino and craps related so I thought that some of you might get some useful information from it.

This trip was from Wed. Nov. 21st through Mon. Nov. 26th. We were meeting our friends, Mike and Sandi, who live in Ontario on Thanksgiving evening. They were coming over after work and arrived around 7:30. We had booked a 2 bedroom suite at the Hilton which overlooks the falls and is connected to the Fallsview Casino by a covered walkway. Our suite was on the 39th floor and the view was fantastic. The falls are lit up at night with changing colored lights until about midnight. At 9 PM on Friday night there are fireworks over the falls. Originally we were planning to leave on Sunday but due to the snow that was falling south of the falls on Sunday my wife decided to book the room for Sunday night.

The route we were driving up to the falls from New Jersey took us on the New York Thruway up past Syracuse so we had planned to stop at Turning Stone casino in Verona NY and stay overnight there and finish the trip to the falls Thanksgiving morning.

Turning Stone is an Indian casino and was about 30 to 35 miles from Syracuse. We arrived there around noon, ate lunch, and then played for maybe 4 hours.

This casino is very attractive and has a good atmosphere but neither of us was able to win anything. My wife likes Pai Gow poker and they had it but without the bonus bet so she found it hard to make any money here. No good at roulette or blackjack either.

TURNING STONE CRAPS

I think there were 6 tables all being 12 feet long with felt layouts. I tried 2 hands with no success and then stopped. What I found is that the chip rails are very high being about 3 inches higher than the top of my belt. Since I'm 5'8" tall I couldn't get in a good shooting position with these rails. Another thing that I found is that I would rate the bounce on these tables as VERY bouncy. I had the following results:

Hand #1 UH 9 throws

Hand #2 UH 9 throws 2 points

I could probably do OK if I were to stay here for a couple of days and play substantially more than I did but I have no incentive to do this. Even if I make another trip to the falls I won't stop here.

On Thanksgiving morning we drove from Verona, NY to Niagara Falls. It was about 3 hours and on the New York side right before you get to the Rainbow Bridge is Seneca Niagara Casino. This is another Indian casino but the tribe is different than the tribe at Turning Stone. The main hotel building is very impressive and attractive but the casino itself was sort of middle of the road. The casino building itself is either a large square or rectangle and it was easy to find your way around. Pai Gow was the same here as at Turning Stone in that there was no bonus bet. My wife played blackjack and after losing at one table she switched tables and was up about $200 for the day. We only stayed here for about 2 hours.

SENECA NIAGARA CRAPS

I think there were 6 tables in two different pits. Two tables were to the left off the front entrance while the other tables were on the main floor. Only one table was open when I arrived and the good shooting positions were taken. Maybe an hour later they opened a second table and I was able to play. I didn't make a note about the layout whether or not if was felt or micro fiber. The tables were 12 feet long and the chip rail was normal height. The problem with these tables is that they were EXTREMELY bouncy. I tried two hands with the following results:

Hand #1 UH 8 throws 2 come out wins

Hand #2 UH 13 throws 1 point 1 come out win

The 4 of us went back there on Saturday night so my wife and Mike could play blackjack but I had no temptation at all to play any craps. There are a lot better places to play craps so I have no intention of ever playing craps here again.

On Friday afternoon Mike and I went to Casino Niagara which is on the Canadian side. This is a sister casino to Fallsview and the same chips and players card is used in both places. We just wanted to check out the 8 foot long tub craps table (1) that they had here. We found out that it would open at 8 PM that evening and over the weekend. We decided that we would give it a try the next day. What we noticed is that the table games here had low table limits compared to say Fallsview. All of the tables were $5 and $10 minimums.

CASINO NIAGARA CRAPS

All four of us went back here on Saturday afternoon and the one tub craps table was open. Well this table was 8 feet long with felt and was bouncy as hell. One dealer operates the whole game. He handles the bets and the stick. On this tub table the dealer will call a no roll if so much as one die doesn't make it to the wall. I tried a few hands here with no success at all. The dice were bouncing all over the place and I will never play this table again. I'm not going to report my throwing results because they were like 4 and then 5 throws with one come out win and no points made. Well I at least experienced it.

One thing I should mention now to any Americans planning on playing in Canada. American dollars can't be used. You have to go to the cashier cage and exchange your American dollars for Canadian dollars. You can then convert them back when you are leaving.

Back to Thanksgiving day now. When we left Seneca Niagara casino we went to the Hilton and checked in around 3 PM. After checking in we went to the Fallsview casino and were very impressed. This casino is large and opulent and reminded us of some of the nicer casinos in Atlantic City. My wife was happy because Pai Gow here in Canada has the bonus bet and she immediately started playing. I walked down to the other end of the casino where the table games are. One craps table was open with a $10 limit and it was totally filled with players. It stayed filled for the whole day so I never got to play. I did observe play for maybe 30 minutes and the table bounce looked neutral. The tables were 12 feet long with felt which was a beige color. There were only 2 tables on the main floor. They have one other craps table in the high roller area called the Salon Prive. The limit here was $25 and went up to $50 on Saturday evening around 8 PM. There were typically 2 or 3 players at this table, just chicken feeding from the ends of the table.

As usual there were no DI's that I saw anywhere on this trip other than myself. Some of the chicken feeders as expected would get on a good roll occasionally. One thing that I had heard was that the dealers would not interact or be friendly with the players but I didn't find this at all. Most of them were friendly and I didn't see any difference compared to casinos in the states. Another thing that I had heard was that there was no tolerance for a short throw that they would immediately warn you. I saw none of this.

On Friday morning, 11/23, Mike and I went to the craps table around 9 in the morning after breakfast and found only a few players and a $5 table limit. I was able to get SR1 and my first hand was 26 throws followed by a 16 throw hand then a 9 throw hand. We left then because the table got almost totally filled with players. After dinner that evening the population was low again and I got in one more hand of 10 throws before the players came out of the woodwork.

One thing I should comment on is that over the weekend the table limits at Fallsview are very high. The lowest you will find is $25 on a blackjack game. War might be lower but there is only one table and in all the time I was walking by there was very little action. Despite these table limits the tables were all filled with players.

Now for Saturday morning. We got to the craps table again around 9:00 and there were only 2 or 3 other players but one of them was at SR1. I took SL2 and used a Parr throw. My throwing was good with the following hands; 14 throws, 17 throws and then 11 throws. The player at SR1 had put some white chips down and disappeared. I see players do this when they go to the bathroom and are gone for a few minutes. This guy was gone for at least a half hour and I asked the boxman "how long do you hold this spot?". He said that I could take it and to just move his 2 white chips over. This guy finally comes back pushes right up against my back and is trying to force himself into my SR1 position. I turned to him and said you've been gone for an hour, you don't have this spot anymore. He then settles in next to me with his shoulder right against me. When it was his turn to throw I backed out away from the table giving him all the shooting room he wanted. Now its my turn to shoot and I had to say to him "I hope you are going to give me the same courtesy that I extended to you and give me enough room to shoot. He did but very reluctantly. This butt head whose name was Victor really got me upset with this crap and my hand was only 12 throws. More players arrived and I was still upset and colored in. For the whole rest of Saturday the table was filled all day long.

On Sunday we all went back to Casino Niagara. The tub wasn't open but I had no intention of playing. I played some blackjack switch for an hour and lost $25. My wife was playing blackjack with a lucky ladies side bet (2 queens of hearts). She got this on her last hand and won $175. Mike was up $400 at blackjack which we had just taught him to play over the weekend. Then we went back to the Hilton, had lunch and Mike and Sandy had to leave to go home. When they left we went back to Fallsview and I couldn't get on the craps table. Absolutely no craps this day for me at all. My wife was playing $25 Pai Gow and got 4 aces and was up $400.

So now it's Monday morning and we are planning to hit to road to go home by 8 in the morning. I was up at 5, showered, got dressed and went to the casino at 6 AM. My wife said she would meet me there as soon as she got dressed. I wasn't expecting much at all figuring that there would be 5 or 6 players and the good shooting positions would be taken. Much to my surprise I found no players and a $5 table limit. So I bought in with my $85 Canadian plus 4 loonies (dollar coin). My first hand was 16 throws with no points or come out wins but 12 box numbers so I was up maybe $25. My next hand was 6 throws with a couple of paying box numbers so I gave a little bit back. What I had discovered was that I didn't have my body moving toward the stickman when I was throwing and I corrected this on my next hand. Well this was my last hand of the day and it was spectacular. 42 throws with 3 come out winners and 3 points made but there were 30 box numbers made during this hand and by throw #15 I was across on all the numbers. My wife arrived at the table about halfway through this hand with no money so I gave her $75 worth of my chips. Despite this when this hand ended I was up close to $250. My wife then took a turn. She made point #1 on her 4th throw, point #2 on her 7th throw, point #3 on her 12 throw, point #4 on her 15th throw. So she had made a 4 point fire bet. Well her 5th point came on her 21st throw so she was now up to a 5 point fire bet win. The sixth point was the 10 and she couldn't make it. However her hand was 33 throws with 7 points made. I colored in $500 from a $89 start and my wife colored in $400 from a $0 start.

FALLSVIEW CASINO CRAPS

DAY #1 -11/23

UH 26 THROWS 3 POINTS 1 COME OUT WIN

UH 16 THROWS 2 POINTS 2 COME OUT WINS

UH 9 THROWS 1 POINT 2 COME OUT WINS

UH 10 THROWS 2 POINTS

DAY #2 -11/24

PARR 14 THROWS 1 POINT 3 COME OUT WINS

PARR 17 THROWS 4 POINTS 1 COME OUT WIN

PARR 11 THROWS 2 POINTS 1 COME OUT WIN

UH 12 THROWS

DAY #3 -11/26

UH 16 THROWS

UH 6 THROWS

UH 42 THROWS 3 POINTS 3 COME OUT WINS

This trip ended up being very successful. In the last 24 hours my wife won $975 which more than covered her earlier losses and I was up close to $500 for the trip.

I found the table at Fallsview to be excellent for my throwing both with Underhand and Parr. The only thing I would change for our next trip is that I wouldn't go over a weekend but during the week.

If anybody has any questions concerning playing craps at any of these casinos that I've talked about please PM me.

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