Anyone been yet?

I went Saturday afternoon live racing starts at 1:30

and I believe it's Thursday thru Sunday. The place was

packed when I arrived, as I actually had to park in the

last row. It's really nice on the outside & inside, didn't

eat but heard the restaraunts were very good. I had

zero luck betting horses and the betting area was very

crowded. On to the good stuff:

I ventured into the slot area and had a good couple of hours:

First I hit 400$ on a quarter machine, and figured I would

try and get a little more out of them on 1$ machines. This didn't

turn out to well as I ended up putting about 320$ back in before

returning to quarter machines. I then hit for 700$ on a quarter

machine and cashed that ticket. I was on my way out when I

remembered the 80$ ticket I still had and put that back in the

1$ machine I was previously playing and got another 800$.

All in all a good few hours spent and walked away with $1550.

 

Wife just got off work for a couple weeks so we called the travel

agent to book a trip for next week or the following one.

I also went Saturday - had great luck with the ponies - terrible luck in the Casino. If something doesn't happen with the Casino laws in KY, Turfway is doomed! I thought the place was great!

I went on Derby day, traffic was surprisingly good. The place is beautiful. I stuck a $20 in the slots and won $200 which paid for my Derby bets so I was pleased. I didn't like how the Racbook was laid out for a high volume of people. I'm sure it's fine when it's not too busy but I didn't like the flow of the place if you didn't have your own table.

 

I was a little surprised how small the grand stands were. I will be going back for live racing shortly. Turfway doesn't stand a chance.

Have been several times. Am impressed with the overall complex, and once the glitter of the newness wears off and the crowds die down, I think it is going to be a wonderful venue.

For we horseplayers there are some drawbacks - not enough self-serve tote machines, no concession stand in the race book. I am getting tierd of eating burgers, regardless of how good they are. The Gelato/Coffee shop is a nice touch. The casino is well appointed and vegas-class, and the sports bar has been extremely popular. The band Saturday night did a great job.

I've had good luck with the horses at live racing - the track is playing fair, albeit about 3 paths out. Casino has be so-so. Have won $350, $160, and lost $150, $150. We are begging for high-stakes payouts on the video keno machines, which I think we will get, and there is a nice assortment of new and re-furbished slots - 1500 of them. No video poker or table games.

Parking is an issue, with the primary spots being taken up by Handicapped and Valet. During the week the valet spots become public which helps. They have plans to build an indoor garage. Valet is $5 and very convenient. Tip - park down on the spots nearest the racetrack and enter through the race book. Twice I've come to play the horses without stepping a foot in the casino.

I've eaten in the buffett twice and the salad bar is great and the dessert bar phenominal. I'm not a Mexican, Indian, Japaneese food fan, so that eliminates half of the entrees. THe brazilian steak/pork is very good, and they have the usual hodge-podge of American and Italian stuff. If you know anyone at all there, buffet passes are easy to come by, otherwise it's around $23 for dinner. I hear the Sunday brunch is nice.

Steak & Pasta, the upscale restaurant is getting high marks, although I haven't tried that yet. Burger Brothers has been busy since they opened, and put out a great burger for about $9.

All in all I give the place passing grades, and look forward to it when the crowds die down. I'm leaving for three weeks in Canada and hoping things will have become more tame when I return.

Turfway doesn't stand a chance.

 

Turfway is owned 51% by Horsehoe Casino - they want to be doomed.

I was also surprised by the lack of betting windows and self serve tote machines. I was told they are looking towards the future when more and more people use their tablets, cell phones etc.. to bet. That's what I do, I use an on-line account and bet on the mobile site on my phone.

Casino cash, seen as tracks' savior, is linked to tragedies

 

 

Interesting related article:

 

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120401/SUB/304019974/casino-cash-seen-as-tracks-savior-is-linked-to-tragedies#

^Bad link.

Mainly the reason I didn't spend much time on the horses was

because of the volume of people and flow in the area. Kind of

worked to my advantage on this trip since the slots were good to me.

Like others have said when the new wears off a bit it should be a

really nice time.

I didn't think the burger was all that great. Guess I need to give it another shot. I don't like how high the TV's are in the racebook area and I agree about there not being enough machines. None of that would stop me from going there though. The place is really nice.

A friend of mine went on Derby day and commented that they weren't a fan of it. They said too many slots etc. and took away from the horse racing itself. I like the idea of having a casino at a race track but I think it needs to be designed so that it doesn't take away from the track istelf and pull the patrons away from betting on the races etc.

 

With that said, I haven't been there yet, just going off of what my friend said they saw as the problem.

^Bad link.

 

It works for me. ??

I've only walked thru the casino so don't know anything about the slots. The beverage stations have a nice selection of Coke products is all I can tell you.

 

As for the Racebook:

The $5 Pay seats with TVs are nice although they seem to have trouble finding enough working remotes and you need a remote to change channels. It is a full selection of stations so if you are losing at the ponies you can watch Pawnstars or CSI or ESPN.

They do need to move the place where you buy the seats away from the teller windows. All it does is jam up the area by the door. If it rains expect it to be crowded. But hopefully when things calm down they will add some more teller stations and self serve tellers.

 

The $3 seats with no TVs are fine. You can see the elevated big screen TVs.

 

The Burger Brothers place serves the Racebook in that the waitresses will take your order from their menu or the Nosh place and go get your food and bring it to you. Along with waters or soft drinks. Mustang may keep the Nosh place going, but I have yet to see anyone order anything from there or even enter the place.

 

The Grandstand:

The viewing area is great from the seats. The video board on top of the tote board is nice but be warned.......it is about 3 seconds behind the live race and the live race call. So you will hear, "And they're off" and they will be but the video board will still show them in the gate.

The concession stand behind the grandstand has brats and nachos and such. There is also some vending machine back there that have Coke products and chips, candy bars etc.

 

The Stadium Club looks like the place to be if you are a Sports Bar kind of person. Lots of TVs. It always seems to be hopping.

The Buffet place looked to be doing a good business.

I don't think the high end restaurant Favorites was doing much but that might be a more evening time option.

 

My tip is to park on the Coney side by the first turn of the racetrack. The stretch side of the track seems to fill up quickly and over towards Coney was not full at all.

 

I will say I think they may have slightly under-estimated the patrons desire to see and bet horses and not be in the casino. Because you can go do that downtown or anywhere in Indiana. During live racing the casino part was pretty empty but I'm sure it gets more crowded after racing is over.

 

As for the track that the horses run on.......seems to be playing fair. Quality of horses has not been that great, with mostly also rans at Turfway and Beulah horses. But I think the slightly higher purses have attracted some Penn and Mountaineer horses that normally would not be there. So time will tell. I think getting the Turf Course in play next year will attract some nicer horses. Hopefully they run more races on it than they did at River Downs where if it cloudy they would take the races off the Turf.

I thought it was a super nice place with some design flaws. If it rains the concourse is a crowded mess, and I wonder what happens when the first person wipes out on the slick, wet tile. I don't have an issue with smokers but I know if I chose to smoke I would be a bit more courteous than some of those I saw in attendance.

Heading to Belterra today. Any tips by anyone who has been recently. Has the crowds died down? We are going with a big group. Trying to talk someone into the Stadium eating challenge:

 

Stadium Challenge $50

 

Step up to the plate and try Stadium’s

version of a classic cincy street dog.

Start off with our 6 pound jumbo hot

mett, topped with Cincinnati style

chili, diced onions, aged cheddar

cheese, yellow mustard and crispy

fries...and don’t forget the pickle!

We will suit you up in an official

Stadium tailgater apron and cheer

you on all the way! Eat it in 45

minutes or less & you eat for free!