Niagara falls - july 2014 - trip report

NIAGARA FALLS – JULY 2014 – TRIP REPORT

We’ve visited Niagara Falls the past 2 years at Thanksgiving time. This year we decided to see what it is like in the summer. Additionally we wanted to go to Seneca Allegheny casino in Salamanca, NY which is on the route we take to go to Niagara. Seneca Allegheny is where my wife won the $2000 in a drawing last November which put this casino near the top of her favorite casinos list.

We started our drive last Wed. 7/9/14 at 7:00 in the morning and arrived at Seneca Allegheny around 1:30 PM. We had a room booked here for Wed. and Thurs. nights. When we arrived we were able to check in and we got to the casino to play around 2 in the afternoon. My wife, Eva, will play all the games as long as they use cards. During the 6 days for this trip she played blackjack, 3 card poker, 4 card poker, Crazy 4 poker, Caribbean Stud, Mississippi Stud, Texas Hole em, Ultimate Texas Hold em and Pai Gow poker. She also played some craps.

I of course went to the craps table. They have 2 tables but during the week only 1 table is open. The craps table was totally filled with 11 or 12 players who I describe as “crusty old timers”. I watched for a while and observed that some of them were setting the dice and then making a totally uncontrolled random throw. All of the players were just making random throws and I didn’t see anyone get on a good long roll. I would come back and check on what was going on about every hour and the status never changed. Some of the old crustys would be gone but they were replaced by new old crustys. Finally at 8 PM I gave up and went to my room. So, first day no play at all.

The following day we both went to the craps table around 6:45 in the morning and found ½ table open with no players there so we bought in and started playing. Eva threw the dice pretty well and had the following hands: 15 throws with 1 point made, 13 throws with 1 point made, 18 throws with 2 points made and her last hand was 6 throws with 1 point made. I started off slowly with a 7 throw hand with 1 come out win. My next hand was a monster lasting 53 throws with 7 points made and 5 come out wins. When I got to 50 throws I started thinking that my personal best of 54 throws was going to be beaten. Nope, I guess that I shouldn’t have been thinking about it and just keep on throwing the dice. When this hand ended some more players had come to the table and bought in so we colored in and went to have some breakfast. I went back to the table about 5 hours later and the magic was gone. I threw 2 hands of 8 throws followed by 9 throws with only 1 point made in the 2 hands. That was it for the day.

Next day, Friday, we again went to the casino around 7 AM and neither one of us could get it going like the day before. Each of us threw 3 hands with all the results being between 7 and 10 throws with 6 points made. It was just good enough to break even but the day before we were up $400. If I remember correctly Eva was down $400 at this point from her card games so we were at a breakeven for the trip.

We got packed and left for Niagara Falls around 11 AM and arrived at the Hilton (across the street from Fallsview casino) at 1 PM. We were able to check into our 2 bedroom falls view suite immediately. Our friends from St. Thomas Ontario were due to arrive at 3 PM. After checking in we went over to the casino. Eva wanted to play Pai Gow poker but the table min. was $25 and she didn’t want to play at that level. $15 is OK for her so she went and played some other game which I don’t know which one it was. On Friday afternoon the craps table wasn’t quite filled but the shooting positions that I wanted to throw from were occupied so I never got to play here on Friday. After dinner the 4 of us took a cab over to Casino Niagara. This is a sister property to Fallsview and the same chips and players card are good in either casino. I couldn’t play craps here because the 8 foot long tub table is GONE. I wandered around just killing some time on the slots. I think that Eva ended up down another $400 but Mike won somewhere around $250.

The next morning, Saturday, me Eva and Mike went to the craps table at Fallsview around 6:30 in the morning. Mike got there a little later. Eva started out with an 8 throw hand. I was up next and threw another monster hand of 36 throws with 5 points made and 3 come out wins. Out of 27 point cycle throws during this hand I made 8 hard ways. Unfortunately for Mike he didn’t get there until my hand was halfway over so he didn’t make nearly as much as Eva and I made. I think between the 2 of us we were up close to $400 on this hand. Eva then had a 10 throw hand followed by my 11 throw hand with 2 points made. I made 3 hard ways in 8 point cycle throws in this hand. Mike then had a 23 throw hand. After this they brought in new dice and I saw 3 very short hands in a row so we colored in and went to have some breakfast.

Around lunchtime we went for a walk down alongside the falls and then wandered up to the strip area. This area is filled with wax museums, haunted houses, shops and food joints. I guess this time of year is their main tourist season because the streets were filled with people speaking languages from all around the world. After wandering the strip for a while we ended up back in Casino Niagara. I don’t remember what Eva played but she was either break even or down slightly. Mike was the star this afternoon and ended up winning $500 at blackjack. He was still playing and winning so Eva and I took a cab back to Fallsview and I went to our room but she went to the casino. A couple of hours later she showed up at our room with and ear to ear grin on her face. She was playing Ultimate Texas hold em and got 4 of a kind early in her playing and it just kept up being positive the whole time she was there. In about 2 hours of play she was up $1100 so this wiped out her losses and put her up for the trip.

That evening we had dinner at the Sandstone Grill (steak house) with a couple we knew but had never met in person from Australia. This couple was the parents of our daughter’s maid of honor. My wife had spoken to them a few times on the phone over the last 15 years. Their daughter met our daughter when she was an exchange student here in the states. After we dropped them off at their hotel around 10:30 PM we went back to Fallsview and Eva won another $100 at Ultimate Texas hold em.

The next morning, Sunday, we went back to the craps table around 7 AM. I couldn’t get my shooting position but Eva was OK since she throws from straight out. She threw 1 hand of 13 throws with no points or come out wins. After craps she went to Pai Gow poker which was now at a $15 minimum. She played for about 2 hours during which time she had 10 full houses and ended up winning another $200 or $300. We then went back to the hotel for breakfast. We had vouchers from the hotel which covered all 4 of us for both days for free. After breakfast we packed and then checked out of the hotel around noon time.

We then decided as soon as we were on our way home to stop back at Seneca Allegheny and spend another night. The casino hotel had no rooms available so we ended up staying at the Holiday Inn which is right down the road from the casino.

After we checked into the hotel over to the casino we went. I couldn’t get on the craps table immediately but sometime around 5 PM I was able to buy in by myself at the table. It’s now been close to 1 ½ full days since I last touched the dice so I wasn’t expecting anything too great. Well my first hand was 24 throws with 3 points made and 1 come out win. My next hand was only 8 throws but all box numbers. Some other players were now showing up so I left and went and had some dinner. That was it for Sunday but I was looking forward to Monday morning.

On Monday morning we got up around 6:30 and were at the casino at 7 AM. We walk in and once we got within view of the craps table, I said “what the F____”. There was no crew at the table and it was closed. We were told that it was opening at 10 AM. This was not what I was expecting since the table had been open early in the morning the previous week on Thursday and Friday. Eva played some blackjack and 3 card poker for an hour and then we left. Had breakfast at the hotel and then hit the road at 9 AM to finish the drive home. We stopped for a few hours at Mt. Airy casino in Pennsylvania where there was one craps table open and it was totally filled with 11 or 12 players for the whole 2 hours we were there. I couldn’t even get close enough to assess the table bounce characteristic.

It was an enjoyable trip, we were winners and the weather was fine. Here are my craps results in my usual format.

METHOD # THROWS # POINTS # CO WINS

7/10 SENECA ALLEGHENY

UH – RIGHT 7 1

UH – RIGHT 53 7 5

5 HOUR BREAK

UH – RIGHT 8

UH – RIGHT 9 1 1

7/11 SENECA ALLEGHENY

UH – RIGHT 8 1

PARR – LEFT 10 2

7/12 FALLSVIEW

UH – RIGHT 36 5 3

UH – RIGHT 11 2

7/13 SENECA ALLEGHENY

UH – RIGHT 24 3 1

UH – RIGHT 8

In 6 days all I managed to play was 10 hands at craps. I made the most of it by making 18 points for a 1.8 pt/hand ratio. I also had 11 total come out wins for a 1.1/hand ratio. It also looks like my average roll length was 17.4 throws per hand. I was a net winner at craps being up around $450 for the trip. I’m not 100% sure about Eva’s win. She had 2 ATM machine visits on this trip but she won quite a bit more than her withdrawals so I’m just guessing that her win was somewhere around $500.

This is 3 times each that I’ve been to Seneca Allegheny and Fallsview casinos and my dice throwing has been great on every single one of these trips and I’ve won money. The only real negative that I have is the driving time to get there. I’ll have to think about looking into flights.

Dicenator

I have to get back to Niagara Falls. Last time I was there we saw Elvis in the auditorium which is now a casino

I have read your last several reviews. From what I can tell, it appears that you have not 7-ed out immediately at all in the past several trips and all of your shortest rolls were at least 5 or 6 throws. Am I reading your reviews correctly?

Barry

Thanks for the report!

I enjoyed your report.

Keith