Hello ALL!
As requested by "Sentry" and "Maverick", below please find an account of my recent trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and as applicable to their Horse Track, Casino, and etc.
In general, Hot Springs, Pop. 35k, is a pleasant medium sized town in South Central Arkansas. The Track has Live Racing, mostly Thurs.-Sun., from late-Jan and until mid-April, and "Off-track betting" most of the rest of the time.....their immediately adjoining Casino is basically a 10am-2am place, but open 24 hrs. on Fri. and Sat.....all of this varies with time of year, so I would certainly Call Ahead, if you are planning a trip!
As a summary, my Girlfriend picked "Cute Names", and lost 1/3 of her total horse racing bets....I picked "Best Jockey's", and lost 1/3 of my bets!
Whatever, and in no particular order of importance:
1. $2/per-person admission fee for the ponies....not charged if you show up late! Casino admission free, but only at the South entrance.
2. $10 cash for First-Time Sign-ups.
3. Comp. Points awarded for Slot, VP, and HORSE-PLAY, but NOT for Table games....i.e., BJ!....if you want to bet $100 on a horse, SWIPE-YOUR-CARD!
4. Almost a dozen or so Restaurant/Food/Drink venues in the complex, but ONLY the buffet open in the Casino section....WITH very limited Hours! Oh, and the Bar in the Casino is open too. Basically, at 1am, YOU ARE SCREWED, if YOU WANT THE FOOD! Friday night Seafood Buffet is EXCELLENT!
5. Get a Oaklawn Player's Card....gets you $2.50 off their Buffet, or FREE, if play allows.
6. Tired of standing with the MASSES, we discovered that we could just go to the Bar in the Casino, have a seat, and a few drinks, and via "TVG", get our Oaklawn Park race results a few minutes "delayed" while sitting at the Bar in the Casino.....for some reason, LIVE results could not be shown in the Casino?
7. On the second day of our trip. WE discovered that LIVE Oaklawn Park racing was, for some reason, unknown to me, shown in the Poker Room......anyhow, on day #2, WE sat in the casino bar, and every so often, my girlfriend would go to the Poker Room and see the race, etc.
8. FALSE ADVERTISING!....All over the town were cardboard replica's of OP's VP Machines....showing 9:6 P/O.....In my first night of Drunken Stupor, I tried to play one in the lobby of my Hotel.....whatever, the actual machines are 8:5!
9. OTHERWISE, and down to business:
-----A. Slots.....who cares?
-----B. VP........8:5.
-----C. Texas Hold-em....all Video....ZZZZZZZZZZZ!
-----D. BJ....."Digital 21", 6-decks, not CSM.....suspect only 3-4 deck pen. Got HEAT via playing progressive!!!!!.....I hit a nice streak, kept pressing my bets, and was approaching Table Max....got lots of attention from guys in SUITS! Tables $10-$200 max. bet and $25-500.
10. Well, hope this is helpful! Obviously, not an AP +EV locale! BUT, it was FUN!!!!!!
11. Sometimes, WE just have to have to have fun!
Well, all for now.
Ph.7
