Niagara falls - november 2013 - trip report

[Dicenator]

NIAGARA FALLS - NOVEMBER 2013 - TRIP REPORT

We left home on Monday Nov. 25th at 6 am and made the 7 hour drive to Seneca Allegheny casino resort in Salamanca, NY. Our plan was to spend Monday and Tuesday nights there and finish the drive to Niagara falls on Wednesday morning. However we changed our plans when we heard about a potential 18" snowstorm starting at 1 pm on Tuesday in the Salamanca region. We departed Seneca Allegheny around 8 am on Tuesday morning and then made the 2 hour drive to Niagara falls without any snow.

Our impression of Seneca Allegheny resort was very positive. First, it kind of appears out of nowhere right alongside the highway and is impressive in size due to there being nothing else in sight to compare it to. The casino itself is medium sized with all the table games grouped together kind of close to the entrance and off to the right side. I didn't count the table games but I'm guessing that there were maybe 25 to 30 in total with 2 craps tables. The decor in the casino was very nice, not too lavish but very nicely done with good lighting. One thing I noted this time was that not only here but also in Canada there are security guards at the entrances making sure no minors get into the casino. I don't see that in Atlantic City.

After checking in and taking our bags up to the room we went to the casino and both of us got player's cards. With the new cards we were each given $35 in slot credits. I used up $60 of these credits with no wins but at least there was no money out of my pocket. So now I went to the craps table to try to play. Only one of the two craps tables was open but they were both 12 feet long with a felt layout and a perfectly normal bounce. The chip rails seemed to be slightly higher maybe an inch compared to what I usually play on but that didn't cause me any issues at all. When I got there two players were at the table with one old timer being at stick right 1 which is my preferred shooting position and he had maybe $500 in chips in his rail so I knew he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. I hesitated for maybe 15 minutes and then decided to buy in at stick left 1 and try Underhand with my left hand. My hand was only 7 throws long but it had one point made and two come out wins. An additional 2 or 3 players then bought in before I got the dice for a second hand so I colored in and left. I felt that probably after dinner I would be able to get on the table at stick right with a low player count.

My wife and I went to dinner around 5 pm and we ate at the Thunder Mountain buffet. The food here was excellent probably in the top two or three buffets I've eaten at anywhere. After dinner at 6 pm the craps table had only 2 players on it and I was able to buy in at stick right 1 and I played for maybe an hour doing fairly well with a long hand of 21 throws using parr with my left hand. This was it for me because I was really feeling tired after being up from 4 in the morning and a 7 hour drive. Plus a bunch of new players were showing up and buying in.

It was around this time that we made the decision to cancel our reservation for Tuesday night which was fine with me because I planned on going to the craps table no later than 6:30 in the morning on Tuesday and get in some playing before we hit the road for Canada.

On Tuesday morning both me and my wife got to the craps table around 6:30 and there were no other players in sight. My very first hand was great, 28 throws underhand with 4 points made and 2 come out wins. This was followed by 13 throw hand with 1 point and then a 10 throw hand with 1 point made. Eva was now getting antsy to start driving to Canada so we both colored in went to the cashier and then loaded the car and hit the road.

In the drive to Canada we passed through Buffalo and we saw a sign for Seneca Buffalo Creek casino off of one exit but we didn't stop due to the snow possibility. In Niagara falls we were staying at the Hilton which is across the street from the Fallsview casino and is connected to it with a covered walkway going above the street. This year we parked at the casino indoor parking lot which was free as long as you had 1 point on your players card. We arrived there by 11 in the morning and had to leave our bags with the bellman since our room wouldn't be ready until 3 pm. Our room was a 2 bedroom suite on the 35th floor with a view of the falls, both the American and the Horseshoe Falls. We had the 2 bedroom suite because our friends, Mike and Sandi, Canadians from Ontario were staying with us from Friday night through Sunday when we were all leaving.

Fallsview Casino is very impressive and large having over 3000 slot machines and I'm guessing over 100 table games. They are a little light in craps tables having only 2 on the main floor and one in the Salon Prive (high roller pit). On the weekdays in the morning the limit at craps was $5 but from Thanksgiving through Sunday it was $10 all the time and $15 in the evening. On Tuesday afternoon I tried some craps but the only position I could get was stick right 2 and I used a left handed Parr throw. I had hand lengths of 7 and then 12 throws with one point made. I left then because it didn't look like I would be getting a better shooting position anytime soon. The next morning I went to craps at 7 am and the playing conditions were significantly better, only a few players and I got stick right 1. My shooting was fairly good with hands of 11, 6, 12, 18 and 17 throws. I stopped for breakfast and when I went back there were too many players at the table. That afternoon we went to Casino Niagara where they have the 8 foot long tubby craps table which wasn't open. I just killed some time on slots while my wife played everything. The table limits at Casino Niagara are significantly lower than at Fallsview. Fallsview has a tremendous number of Asians who are bussed there from Toronto and they usually have large bankrolls which in my opinion is why the table limits are so high there. If they ever open a casino in Toronto, I think it will cause Fallsview to have some more reasonable limits.

The next day, Thanksgiving, I again went to the craps table at 7 am and was able to play from stick right 1 with maybe 5 players at the table. I only played a few hands with 13 throws and then 16 throws and then my wife came to the craps table and it was time for breakfast. After breakfast it was too full with players for me to buy in. That evening we had free tickets to a show "Christmas on Ice" at the Fallsview theater and the show was great.

On Friday we crossed back over the border and went to Seneca Niagara Casino. Last year I reported that the craps table here were extremely bouncy and they are still the same today. The only ones open were on the left side when coming in from the outside parking lot. They have two more tables on the main floor which were not open so I can't say anything about the bounce on these tables. I was not temped to play craps here so I did some slots and some 4 card poker with no luck.

Our friends got to the hotel around 3 pm and we went to Casino Niagara. Nobody had any luck at any of the games but Mike won $160 on a slot machine.

Saturday morning the craps table at Fallsview was packed. So late morning all 4 of us went back across the river to Seneca Niagara where again nobody had any luck. My wife played a lot of Pai Gow poker at Fallsview with no luck like she had last year. That evening we had dinner at a steak house chain called some name with a KEG in it. It might have been "The Keg". The food was good but it was on the pricey side.

Sunday morning Mike and I went to the craps table by 7 am and there were only a few other players. Mike got the dice first and had a 23 throw hand with 2 points made. I was next with a 11 throw hand with 2 points made. Mike then threw 11 times with no points. My next hand was 31 throws with 5 points made. Mike then had a 17 throw hand followed by my 8 throw hand and Eva's 11 throw hand with 2 points. That was it, we then had breakfast, packed our car and started the drive for home at 10 am.

We arrived home at 6 pm and 10 minutes later the phone rings and it is someone from Seneca Allegheny casino looking for Eva. What had happened is while she was playing blackjack on Monday she got a blackjack that was made with an ace and king of spades. This got her an entry into some blackjack prize drawing which was held today at 3 pm. She dropped her entry into this big drum which had thousands of other entries. Well Eva's name was the second one drawn out of the drum and she won $2,000. We have to go back there for her to collect it in person, so we are going on Wednesday this week and we have a comped room for the night. I've always said her middle name is "lucky".

Now for my usual craps summary:

SENECA ALLEGHENY

METHOD HAND # THROWS # POINTS # CO WINS

UH LEFT 7 1 2

UH RIGHT 6 1

PARR LEFT 21 1 1

UH RIGHT 11 3 2

UH RIGHT 10 1 1

UH RIGHT 28 4 2

UH RIGHT 13 1

UH RIGHT 10 1

FALLSVIEW

METHOD HAND # THROWS # POINTS # CO WINS

PARR LEFT 7

PARR LEFT 12 1 1

UH RIGHT 6 1

PARR LEFT 11 1 4

UH RIGHT 6

PARR LEFT 12 3

UH RIGHT 18 1 1

UH RIGHT 17 2 5

PARR LEFT 13 1

UH RIGHT 16 2 3

UH RIGHT 6 1 1

PARR LEFT 8

UH RIGHT 11 2 1

UH RIGHT 31 5 2

UH RIGHT 8 3

In 23 hands I made 31 points for a ratio of 1.35 points per hand. There were also 31 come out winners for the same 1.35 ratio of CO wins per hand. My money win for the 6 days was $480 which I'm satisfied with considering that for 2 days there was almost no playing at all. I think that there wasn't enough opportunity to play as much as I would have liked to. I'm trying to convince my wife that Thanksgiving week probably isn't the best time to be going to Fallsview. We can go anytime and our friends can come almost any weekend. She really liked Seneca Allegheny and might be willing to go there a few times a year for maybe 3 days at a time.

Dicenator

[Grandpaul]

Last time we were up in that area we were bringing out 9 and 8 year old sons to see Elvis at the convention center in Niagara Falls which is now a casino. That was back in 1974 I believe. Got to get bck up there now. I can hear elvis calling me. LOL.

 

We;re heading out on the NCL Breakaway this weekend so I'm sure I'll be seeing some casino action on it. We sailed on it last May and liked it a lot.