My comments may be misconstrued, so please accept my apologies.

Although casinos have proliferated in the country, and the Midwest has its fair share, it has become my belief, based on the seemingly lack of enticing complimentaries, specifically in the Midwest, and more specific - the upper Midwest, that casino management has targeted the uninformed casino patron as it's target customer.

What I mean by this is that they only offer bad rules, bad penetration, generally bad conditions, as they really can't offer the same type of complimentaries as what the major gaming destinations (in the US) can offer, thereby there's no incentive to compete against other casinos.

This is manifested in how the casino management mentality conducts itself regarding the maximizing of its BJ hold, i.e., it's BJ profit margins.

A better example may serve to illustrate this point: In Las Vegas, and specifically on the strip, Caesars Entertainment Corp, (formerly Park Place Entertainment), decided to test the waters and see just how math illiterate the average Las Vegas tourist was by introducing what has now become known as the 6:5 Single Deck BJ "short pay" scam. In fact, they were so confident of this that Bally's proudly proclaimed 6:5 SD BJ on it's strip marquee! People, believe it or not, flocked to the games, and the casinos initially were seeing huge gains in their traditional BJ holds. This would further the belief by casino management that they should target their games to people who would "tolerate" bad games, bad rules, etc. for the opportunity to play BJ at "lower limits, i.e., $5 minimums."

What casinos in other parts of the country have going for them is the ability for "locals" to have the same opportunity to play BJ at lower limits without the cost of travel expenses, thus the reduced need for travel related complimentaries.

But then the question arises as to why don't they provide the better games to "higher" limit players, as do the gaming destination casinos do?

And here is where I believe that the lack of need, relating to travel, eating, and even shows, i.e., a gaming vacation type destination comes into play.

The harder core bigger player, will still end up playing in these inferior games, knowing that they don't have to travel.

But they are wrong.

The cost to most of these players, (the higher limit ones that is) is usually much greater than the cost of airfare, and the comps that can be used to offset both the accommodations and food expenses that travel from home requires.

And to finally get to the Potawatomi as another illustrative example, this casino sits within a couple of miles from downtown Milwaukee. In effect, they have a captive clientele, and thus they have no need to offer better games, as there are many people to fill the tables as to the closeness to home availability it provides.

So whereas casino gambling has spread across the country, it hasn't actually increased overall competition.

There is really only one way for that to happen, and it may finally have started, and that is that the casino BJ holds are starting to dramatically decline (see July 2004 Nv. numbers) and casino advisors are pointing to the public's learning, and staying away from, the infamous 6:5 BJ scam.

Now in Vegas, and other places as well. e.g., Biloxi, Tunica, and others, the high roller gets the better games as to their "expectation" of being treated to comps, for their allegiance, relay requirements, to the casino/hotel providing the room, food, and beverage.

BTW, Atlantic City, although the state law requiring the non-barring of counters is generally attributed for this effect, also IMO, learned this years ago. In fact, I believe this has had more of a reason for their bad games, than the so-called "counter" countermeasure, as last I checked, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and more, are relatively "short" drives away.

Now, to be fair, there are some playable games in the Midwest (and other similar locations), but they still require an investment in "time." That is, the time to drive to and from, or, to and to, other casinos that may be (likely actually) miles and miles away from each other.

Some distances may be helpful to illustrate this point.

Chicago to Milwaukee is 90 miles. Milwaukee to Green Bay (Oneida) is 125 miles. Green Bay to Escanaba, Mi. (Chips-In's Island) is 110 miles.

What about all the Chicago area casinos, one may ask?

Some answers. Downtown Chicago to Grand Victoria (Elgin, Il) is 45 miles. To Hammond, In (Harrahs/Horseshoe) is 19 miles. To Harrahs East Chicago is 25. To the Blue Chip (Michigan City, In) is 60 miles. To Empress (Joliet, Il) is 50 miles.

They all, with one exception (Blue Chip), suck. Actually, Harrahs East Chicago may also have some better conditions, but again (the purpose for this post) it more likely exists in their high limit room than in the main casino.

In fact, for comp purposes, the only reason to even visit a Harrahs casino, is to (hopefully) accrue comp credits to be used elsewhere.

Now, this may change a little if Colony can finalize the purchase of the Harrahs East Chicago Casino. ( They now own the LV Hilton).

All this is really to say, that the target, re:exploitation of casino BJ gamblers is towards the red chip player. In the Chicago area, they are a little more brazen, as they include the green chip player. The Grand Victoria (which offers the same game, albeit without the shuffle machines that the Pot uses) has only a few tables (at any time of the day or night) that are NOT $25 minimums. There is absolutely no reason to visit that casino at all (unless you employ other methods besides traditional card counting).

So, in the end, it is my humble opinion, if you plan (or expect) to play a winning game, that you might as well enroll in as many frequent flier programs as you can, as that's the only way (in today's environment) that you can expect to play in high quality games. Generally speaking.

I don't have a need to play BJ. My need is to "win" at BJ. Therefore, I only play in high quality games. If one would come to the conclusion that I rarely play Midwest casinos, (with certain exceptions) they would have made the correct assumption.

And in my opinion, so should any knowledgeable player.

That's the state of BJ today. Pathetic, but still with opportunities, albeit requiring smarter travel.

Should I "drive" to the upper Midwest for the marginally better game? Or should I fly to Vegas, Reno, Biloxi, Tunica, etc.. ?

No contest. As I continue to rack up my FF miles.

cheers
bfb