Hey all
I have a question about free drinks, which I hear alot about on this forum.
I have only played at 3 casinos so far, and in 1 I got free coke products, another there was waitresses, and the 3rd there was nothing (Cruise Ship).
At ALL of these places, you had to pay for the alcohol you ordered. Not just tipping, but actually pay for the beer.
My question is: Where are you guys playing where it is free and you can 'drink more than you lose'?
I have played in a Indian Casino in Michigan, a Carnival Cruise Ship, and Casino Windsor, Canada.
Thanks!
David

Canadian Niagara Falls Casino Reviews
I am going to use this thread to review my experience with the two casinos in the Niagara Falls, Canada area, which I am quite familiar with. Rather than any specific trip review, I will detail my experiences across several visits.
Niagara Falls includes three Casinos. Two are on the Canadian side, and one is on the American side. For those unfamiliar with the falls area, the Canadian side is far more built up, and the vast majority of the large hotels are located there. This is because of the superior views on the Canadian side – it is hard to see the falls from the US.
Crossing the border, despite what you may have heard, is very simple for citizens of either country. There is a short border crossing bridge that literally crosses right at the tourist areas on both sides. All you need is a passport or an enhanced driver’s license with citizenship information embedded in the card. Not all states/provinces have the enhanced licenses available yet, but in Ontario and New York they are available for an extra fee over the standard license. Note that if you do not have either you will likely face significant questioning, particularly at the US border, but they still may allow you through.
The history of the casinos on the Canadian side is interesting. Once the government gave the green light to build a casino in Niagara Falls in the 1990s, they wanted to open something up as quickly as possible to start bringing in revenue. They decided to lease a large space that was formerly an amusement and shopping complex. This was strictly supposed to be a temporary casino that would operate while planning and construction for the massive permanent casino took place about a mile away. When the new casino finally opened, it was determined that traffic in the summer and weekends warranted keeping both casinos open. Thus there are now two very confusingly named casinos operating – Casino Niagara (old), catering to locals, and Niagara Fallsview Casino (new), catering to tourists. They are each situated on one end of the typical falls viewing area.
I will start by highlighting specific things about each casino, but much of this review will cover both casinos at the same time, drawing comparisons where necessary.
Niagara Fallsview Casino – This is the large, newer casino. The gaming floor is very large by any standards, and fairly luxurious features are present everywhere. There is one large main pit with several tables of all the usual suspects – Blackjack, American roulette, craps, 3 card poker, Let it Ride, Spanish 21, Casino War, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em. There is also an ‘Asian Pit’ that is semi-closed off includes several tables of mini- and midi-baccarat, pai gow (tiles), sic-bo, and pai gow poker.
A high-limit room entitled ‘Salon Prive’ is hidden away in the back. Here, all games are dealt generally at limits of $100 and up, although in slow times they may deal some $50 games. This room includes two tables of single-zero roulette. Full-size baccarat is available here.
Game bet minimums are generally quite high. During weekdays in the low season, there will usually be a few $15 blackjack tables and one or two $10 tables going, with an occasional $5 table in the wee hours. The rest will be $25. On any Saturday and all summer, they keep exactly one $10 or $15 table open, with all the rest being $25 and up. This token low-limit table is always extremely crowded with multiple people back-betting, as the casino allows it three-deep on this table. If you like a huge crowd, I guess it could be fun, but I avoid it. Bet maximums are $300, $500, or $1000 on the main floor, and anywhere from $1000 to $10 000 in the high-limit room. If you plan to visit on a major summer holiday such as Canada day (July 1) or the 4th of July, expect to have a very hard time getting a seat at any game under a $75 minimum.
Fallsview includes the boringly-titled ‘Grand Buffet’. This buffet scores high marks for its view (excellent if you are by the windows) and its reasonable prices. The food is average, with nothing that places it out of the ordinary. Breakfast includes a very-good omelet station and lunch/dinner have shrimp and prime rib. There is no crab or other premium seafood, but that is to be expected given the cost.
Prices are $12 for breakfast and $20 for lunch and dinner. They include tax in these prices for some reason, so the buffet is actually only about $10.50/$17.50 when priced the usual way. Non-alcoholic beverages are included. Some other buffets in Niagara Falls go for ridiculous prices like $35 for dinner.
The Fallsview hotel is directly above the casino and is easily the most luxurious in Niagara Falls. Room rates are high compared to surrounding properties, but many of the rooms are reserved for high-level gamblers. I have stayed there twice and both times received an excellent view and service. The room was nice but not ultra-luxurious or modern. It was solidly four-star.
Casino Niagara - This is the old casino, and now caters to locals. Compared to Fallsview, it is smaller and less glamorous. The carpets are more worn and less plush, and the ceilings are a bit lower. The casino is a bit confusingly laid out in two levels, but it’s not too hard to find your way around as the place isn’t huge. Table games have been scaled back significantly since Fallsview opened, and there is now basically one pit. You will find 3 roulette tables, one craps table, several tables of blackjack, two tables of Spanish 21, and one table each of 3 Card Poker, 4 card poker, Casino War, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, and Blackjack Switch. Minimums are generally $10 and $15 during the week, with $15 and $25 during busy times. There is a somewhat closed off high-limit blackjack area that has minimums of $25 during the week and $50 on Saturday. Upper limits are $300 on the main floor and $500 or $1000 in the high-limit room. Low-limit electronic table games are now available, which I will cover below.
I find the dealers and pit crew to be significantly friendlier at Casino Niagara than Fallsview. Also, they have a self-service beverage station with soft drinks and coffee, which is nice.
Casino Niagara includes one buffet, entitled the ‘Market Buffet’. It is a very no-frills buffet with below-average choices. However at $11.95 for lunch and $16.95 for dinner it is well priced. They no longer serve breakfast. Personally, I prefer the ambience and food at the Fallsview buffet for the slightly higher cost at dinner, but I would eat lunch at the market buffet.
Unlike Fallsview, casino Niagara does not have an associated hotel. However it is directly connected to 2 semi-affiliated properties. There are numerous hotels in the area for any budget.
Here are my comments on the specific games at both casinos:
Blackjack: There are three types of games at Fallsview Casino and casino Niagara, with the only difference being the number of decks and whether it uses a Continuous-Shuffler Machine (CSM). All tables follow the same rules, which are the typical old Atlantic City rules. They are:
6 or 8 decks
Full Peek
Dealer Stands on soft 17
Double after split allowed
Re-split to four hands
Double on any 2 cards
No surrender
House edge of 0.41 (6-decks)
Most games are the 6-deck CSM variety. At Fallsview, there are a couple tables on the main floor that use 8-deck shoes, usually at a $25 minimum. The high-limit room exclusively uses 6-deck shoes. At Niagara, all tables use CSMs on the main floor except one 8-deck shoe that is usually at a $15 minimum. The high-limit rooms at both casinos exclusively use 6-deck shoes. If you are a $25 bettor, the best way to avoid the CSMs is to play at the Casino Niagara high-limit room.
Penetration varies by dealer, but is generally average (about 75 percent) on the 6-deck shoes, and poor on the 8-deck ones (about 70 percent). With mediocre penetration and pretty conservative bet limts, the shoe games are not great games to count. However the threshold for heat is apparently pretty good and you can likely get away with a lot. Back-counting and Wonging can usually be done with relative ease. Lucky Ladies is available on nearly all CSM tables and you might find it on a shoe game as well. If you do, remember to bet it at a True count of +7 or above (rare at this level of penetration).
Craps: All craps tables use 3-4-5 odds, with $5 or $10 minimums and $1000 maximums. Field bet pays double on the 12. I don’t pay attention to any other bets so I do not know if any pay variations exist. The tables are usually pretty full
Roulette: American roulette is used, except in the Fallsview Salon Prive where it is European single-zero. En prison is not available at any table as far as I know.
Spanish 21: 8-decks, dealer stands on soft 17. House edge of 0.40.
Blackjack Switch – The stingy rules are offered, where switching to Ace/Ten is a 21-point hand, not a blackjack. Minimum is usually $10 per hand but sometimes $5.
Electronic games – Both casinos are including electronic games in order to offer games at lower minimums. There is one table of e-roulette at both casinos. In it, you sit around a dome structure and place bets on a screen. A mechanism starts the ball spinning. Minimum bet is $2. Electronic Sic-bo looks almost identical, and has a $1 minimum bet. Fallsview casino also offers rapid roulette, which includes a live dealer but still uses screens.
Casino Niagara offers the electronic Shufflemaster Blackjack and baccarat games. For those unfamiliar with them, you sit around a virtual table and make bets while a video dealer pretends to deal cards. The cards show up on another screen, and you make your decision using buttons. Bet minimum is always $5. The rules for blackjack are as follows:
6-deck shoe, shuffled after every hand
Dealer does not peek, but all extra bets returned for doubling and splitting (mathematically equivalent to full peek)
Dealer stands on soft 17
Blackjack pays 3:2
Double on any 2 cards
Double after split
Split once only
Late surrender available
7-card Charlie
Under these rules, the house edge is 0.38. The casino allows a 0.25 percent cash back on these games, bringing the house edge down to a low 0.13 percent. You can also still qualify for regular discretionary comps. For this reason, I decided to actually try the thing on my most recent trip. Let’s just say, it cannot replicate a real table. Pressing buttons and feeding copious bills in to the slot was irritating. You should be careful that you push the right button – the computer will offer no warning if you accidently hit that hard 20 or make any other mistake. Also beware that I heard that the casino may be changing this ‘table’. If they worsen the rules or replace it with something else that would be unfortunate.
I feel obligated to note that the players of this game (mostly $5 bettors) were some of the worst strategy-wise I have ever seen – so if you believe the myth that other people’s actions hurt your chances, you should probably stay away for your own sake.
Video Poker: In a word: Awful. There is no full-pay VP anywhere. I did a thorough check of nearly all jacks-or-better machines, and the best paytable I could find was 8/5. Far more common was 7/5 and 6/5 (Ugh).
Live Poker: Its been a while since I played poker in Niagara so please correct me if the information in this section is incorrect or outdated. At casino niagara, they run a tradional poker room with no-limit and limit games. You can usually find 1/2 (no-limit), 2/4 or 2/5 (limit or no limit), 5/10 (limit), and 10/20 (limit) if all tables are going, although the higher-limit games won't be run in the non-busy hours. Rake is 10 percent, capped at $5 for all games. All no-limit games of course have a min and max buy-in.
At Fallsview, they use a session fee of $6 per half hour. This of course hurts tight players compared to a rake. Their lowest level game will often be 2/5 no-limit and the higher-level games can go much higher including 500/1000 limit if demand is there. I personally avoid playing poker at fallsview as I don't like session fees. If you want to play high-limit poker, your only choice is to play at Fallsview.
At both casinos, I frequently hear that the players are poor, so expect a good chance to clean up if your play is solid. Tournaments are run at both casinos with relatively steep casino cuts on the entry fees.
Sports betting: Casino Niagara has a sports betting cage where you can bet on NFL, MLB, NHL, European Soccer, and College football and basketball. Unfortunately due to regulations the bets are forced parlays (must parlay at least 2 events) and odds are poor both in both sraight-up betting, over/under and point spread. Still, they are slightly better than the lottery-style 'pro-line' tickets you can purchase at nearly any conveinience store in Ontario. If you don't like betting online and are in the area, this sportsbook can be useful for some very low-level, entertainment-oriented betting. I obviously do not recommend it for anyone serious about sports betting or for large bets. The government is apparently mulling changes to the law that will allow for a full vegas-style sportsbook.
Slots: I pay little attention to slot machines. I also have no idea about the Payback percentage. I have heard that they are fairly tight, especially at Fallsview. The Ontario government only publishes that every slot machine must have an 85 percent or greater payback percentage by law. Both casinos offer Megabucks linked to other Ontario casinos and smaller progressives.
Comps: Both casinos offer mediocre comps for tables, similar to a Vegas strip property. The comp system is completely unified between the two casinos, and is called the “Player’s Advantage Club”. They will rate any hand, including lowly $5 betters. However, don’t expect anything under $25. A $50 bettor will get some food comps after a while, especially on slow days, but rooms are harder to come by. You need to be betting $100 and up for some time to start getting regular meals and any significant amount of room charges comped. The slot club offers a decent 0.5 percent cash back rate on slot machines and about half that on video poker. Double-point days occasionally occur as well. Overall, you will see more discretionary comps at Casino Niagara than Fallsview.
The player’s club does have decent mailers that pretty much anyone can get. They range from a monthly free breakfast buffet (extremely easy to get) to free room and board. I commonly get a mailer for a free meal for 2 at a number of different restaurants valued at $40 and a discounted hotel room, even if I haven’t been in months.
Lines for the player's club (Wendy's style) and cashier (McDonalds style) at both casinos are usually short and move quickly.
Casino Niagara offers numerous excellent promotions, including drawings for significant sums of cash. When I was there before the holidays they were giving away three prizes a day for three weeks, which included flat-screen TVs, camcorders, laptops, and game systems. These promotions are not offered at Fallsview.
Parking is free at Casino Niagara as long as you use your player’s card to exit the parking structure. At Fallsview casino, you must either generate one point of slot play, be rated at a table, or have received a mailer valid for that month. Parking in either garage is a great alternative to the high parking prices in Niagara Falls, and I have done it even when I am not gambling.
If you are not gambling and have not received a mailer, you need to generate the one point somehow to earn the free parking at Fallsview. A simple strategy is to feed a $20 bill in to a quarter or dollar slot machine, count out your bets until you have generated $20 in wagers, and cash out with the remainder or winnings. Electronic roulette or sic-bo works as well but it takes a bit more wagering to earn a point ($30 and $40 respectively). An even better alternative is seeing if you can get away with one bet at a table game, although you must ensure they swipe your card. Theoretically if you wanted to do absolutely no ‘gambling’ you could bet $20 on the small and $20 on the big in electronic sic-bo, with a $1 side wager on any triple. Similarly, you could bet $14 on both red and black in e-roulette with a $2 minimum bet on a 0-00 split. No matter what you do, all these options have a far higher expected value than paying for expensive parking which can be up to $30 at peak times.
Other comments on gambling in Canada:
*There is no taxation of winnings whatsoever in Canada. American citizens are thus strictly on the honor system to report it to the IRS. The casino never issues any tax-related forms.
*All casinos are smoke-free
*Alcoholic drinks are not free. A sign to this effect states that it is illegal under Ontario law. Fair enough, but why then do they charge $6 for a beer? If they want to give them for free but are not allowed, wouldn’t the next best thing be to sell them cheap for those who are gambling? In my opinion, charging $6 for a beer while gambling is ridiculous - $2 would be more appropriate. Non-alcoholic drinks are free to all, including those not gambling. Alcohlolic drink service ends at 2 am every night.
*The drinking age is 19 in Ontario, and this sets the minimum age for the casinos. Anyone young-looking will be asked to show ID at any entrance, and occasionally elsewhere while inside the casino
*You can exchange American currency for Canadian currency at the cage. The casino will give you a receipt that allows you to exchange it back at the same rate when you are finished gambling. That way you do not lose anything on the exchange. Right now, the Canadian dollar is very close to the US dollar, so expect almost the same amount to be given to you when you exchange US bills.
To summarize:
Pros:
-Decent blackjack rules no matter what level you play at – there are no 6:5 or H17 games anywhere
-Other games have decent rules as well, including S17 Spanish 21 games and apparently the best Pairplus pay table for 3-card poker
-Electronic games allow for $5 blackjack and baccarat, and $2 roulette and sic-bo for budget-minded gamblers
-Fun environment with mostly friendly staff
-Both casinos located immediately beside the falls viewing areas
-100 percent smoke free
-Good selection of restaurants both inside and outside of the casinos
-Good promotions (Casino Niagara) and mailers
-Free or almost-free parking including if you are not gambling.
-Live poker players are generally poor
-Decent cash-back rate on slots and other electronic games
-No need to fuss with tax forms
Cons
-The table game to slot ratio at both properties could be better, but particularly at casino Niagara
-Alcoholic drinks are not free - instead they are overpriced
-VP selection is very poor
-No surrender or re-splitting of aces on any live blackjack game, and no games that use fewer than 6 decks.
-Some staff I have encountered, particularly at Fallsview Casino, are not so friendly
-Drink service is spotty outside of the high-limit areas
-Far too many CSMs
-Rake/Session fees are higher than average
-Table limits can be too high for budget-minded gamblers on busy nights
-Falls area can be overpriced
Overall, I prefer casino Niagara. A measly $25 bettor will always get a very comfortable seat in their ‘high-limit’ area and get far more attentive service. While the setting is completely unglamorous, I am not the type to care. More importantly, you can always avoid the CSMs by playing here.
Other info about Niagara Falls:
Clifton hill – A very touristy strip of attractions including a Ripley’s museum, haunted houses and wax museums. The main street is named Clifton hill but it spills out in to adjacent streets. There are numerous mid-priced restaurants, bars, and fast-food joints. This district is adjacent to Casino Niagara, and includes several surrounding hotels. Many of them are budget-oriented. This is the brightest area of town and includes the most bars. If you like eating or drinking at more casual joints or are bringing kids, you should stay here.
Fallsview district – This is the area adjacent to Fallsview Casino. It is mostly just hotels and restaurants and is more spread out, making it less pedestrian friendly. The higher priced hotels and restaurants are mostly located here, although there are some exceptions. There are also a few of those far-too-trendy clubs that are popular in Las Vegas but I avoid. This area is located near the best falls viewing areas. You are right at the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.
You will find most things in the tourist areas of Niagara Falls to be fairly expensive. Sales tax in Ontario (and most areas of Canada) is 13 percent. Most groceries are exempt, but you pay it on almost everything else. The hotel tax rate is strangely different at 10 percent, but nearly all hotels use the opportunity to charge you a 3 percent fee on top of your rate, hoping you’ll simply think you are paying the usual 13 percent tax rate. Gas is priced by the liter and is generally a bit more expensive than in the US. Try to fill up before you cross the border. In Canada, expect to pay about $1 a liter (but hopefully less).
If you wish to venture a bit away from Niagara Falls your time is probably best spent visiting Toronto (Canada’s largest city), which is about a 1.5-2.5 hour drive, depending on traffic. There are about 8 other casinos in Ontario, although the Niagara Falls casinos are the most popular. If there is interest, I will do a review one or two of the other casinos. I may also add more content about the Seneca Casino on the US side. I haven’t been in a while so I didn’t want to add content to this review which may be outdated and incorrect.
If you have any questions or corrections feel free to add them to this thread.

Tolerance is the virtue of believing in nothing

Nice reviews. Thanks.
I have visited both of these casinos, plus the Seneca one on the US side. I particularly like visiting Niagara Falls in late May or very early June, after the weather has improved to my liking and before the prices have jumped. I have also visited the Rama Casino a bit to the north, as an excursion during a visit to Toronto.
As for further reviews, I would be interested in knowing a bit more about the Port Perry (Great Blue Heron) and Brantford casinos. The directory I looked at does not show craps games at either location. Is that correct? Are either of these worth the side trip when I next visit Niagara Falls or Toronto?

It's not whether you win or lose; it's whether or not you had a good bet.

----- You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!

----- You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!

Thanks for the additional info. I might check out Brantford next time I am in the area, just to see some place new. With your input, I doubt I will ever make the trip to Great Blue Heron, particularly with the absence of craps.

'Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe.' -Rig Veda 10.34.4

Boymimbo: That's some very good info to add to this thread! Especially the restaurant write-up. I can also attest to the good food at Lucky's.
Thanks for pointing out those errors. With respect to the craps error, I actually meant to write double, not triple. I'll edit that one. And I was misinformed on blackjack switch - someone who played it told me that switching becomes a blackjack, and I went on his word instead of checking for myself. It clearly states in their table game guide that it does not, so he was wrong. I'll change that as well.
You are correct about the passport/enhanced drivers license rules. Not having one on either side may get you refused. If they allow you through, it will be after significant questioning and may only be allowed in urgent or emergency situations (like a death in the family) after you convince them of the necessity of your entry. A trip to the casino likely won't cut it.
I was at the Brantford casino a couple of months ago, mainly to play some poker. I didn't check every BJ table but it appeared they removed most, if not all of their CSMs (I didn't see a single one). On my previous visit there (about a year ago) I found CSMs at many of the tables.
Brantford players are a superstitous bunch and my guess is that they avoided the CSMs, forcing an associated drop in revenue. If this is the case it was clearly a screw up by management - Negative reactions to CSMs cannot be considered a surprise and they should have researched it further before converting so many of their tables.
Craps were 5x odds when I was there, which was nice to see. All blackjack games were 8-deck shoes.
Overall Brantford is pretty small and crowded but the upside is a good table-to-slot ratio and excellent gambling for the budget-minded patron. They run $5 S17 blackjack all the time except Saturday night when it is $10. The downside to that is maximums are quite low, so head elsewhere if you like to be able to bet more than $300. There's not much to comp you with either.

----- You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!