In the landscape of my life currently, two things dominate my travel schedule. #1 - car racing. Racing is a “me” endeavor, however, as my wife’s interest in it is nonexistent. I can tag it onto stuff and she’s happy at the hotel room, but I always feel like I’m excluding her from something she might want to do. Usually if I go, it’s solo. Then there’s gambling. That is overwhelmingly a “us” thing where we both get plenty out of it. Both of us play video poker at a reasonably high level, and the beeps/boops of slot machines are fun (and my wife will watch me play craps or blackjack when the need comes). There’s a natural desire to see every aspect of things we enjoy. Casinos are no different. We’ve thus been to a lot of them recently.
Regional gaming spots are often tough to get a read on, and so I’d like to at least provide some guidance. In this specific instance, I’ll select a series of native-operated casinos located here in the state of Michigan where I reside. I don’t plan on giving numerical ratings, but perhaps I’ll do an ordered ranking somewhere down the line. Unless specifically noted, these casinos should be expected to charge for alcoholic beverages, but will provide drink stations at which soft drinks and coffee can be self served at no price. We have stopped into casinos during road trips for years here because you can always get a free soda and a clean bathroom.
-FIREKEEPERS CASINO AND HOTEL-
For me where I live, Firekeepers is the closest casino resort. It’s a little under an hour door to door, and we’ve certainly used a lot of comp nights there. The casino floor is a little over 100,000 square feet, which is not an insignificant amount of space. Typical table limits on games start at $25, video poker pay tables are OK but not fantastic (progressive DDB is the best bet here in dollar denomination), and slots are in our experience not terribly tight. Post COVID, the buffet appears to only be open for invitation events like all-you-can-eat crab on Wednesday nights. The steakhouse has also been closed and is being redone as a noodle bar, which I kinda appreciate. The pool area is indoors and small; not a major fan of it and would like to see upgrades. Quality of dining in their restaurants is generally very good, rooms are extremely comfortable and modern, and room service is available. There’s a ballroom space which I’ve seen concerts in - not incredible acoustics, but fine.
Nearby are the cities of Battle Creek and Marshall, which I wrote about on my old blog and have visited many times since. Both have good things going for them in terms of dining options as well as strange outliers (there’s a shocking number of Schlotzsky’s Deli locations in Battle Creek). As is the case with every hotel/casino in Michigan, use of marijuana is not permitted in rooms. There is, however, a dispensary located directly across the street that is open until midnight. The facility also has a gas station with low pricing, and a McDonald’s/Pilot is right around the corner.
For me, Firekeepers is essentially the standard bearer for a resort casino in the lower peninsula of Michigan. I find that I get more rooms in slower periods (e.g. December-March or mid-summer), and find the $500 range for bankroll (as played over 3-4 hours) as a low-roller to be sufficient to generally get offers.
-SOARING EAGLE CASINO & RESORT-
I have had some room offers at Soaring Eagle, but due to timing and what not, I haven’t been able to take them up on it. I have stayed here but it was eons ago even before I had moved to the state. Having said that, from a perspective of gaming, there’s no arguing this. Soaring Eagle has the best paytables for video poker outside of Las Vegas in the United States. Flat out. You can play 99.96% DDB here from 25 cent to $5 denomination. Table games also generally start at $25 minimums, and the casino floor comes in at 150,000 square feet.
The resort is big. There’s a ballroom, but there’s also an outdoor events center that is home to concerts with significant artists and even motocross and monster trucks. There’s golf too, and an RV park. Unlike Firekeepers, Soaring Eagle is home to a full service spa too, and while the pool at the main casino hotel is decently sized, it pales next to the 70,000 square foot indoor water park they operate nearby.
Mount Pleasant, where Soaring Eagle is located, is also home to Central Michigan University. That is objectively a fact. It’s fine. It’s a MAC school, they do have D1 athletics, you could go to a football game I guess. They used to have a good wrestling program but I don’t know if it was cancelled by COVID. There’s a really excellent Native American museum nearby operated by the tribe, but it is open very limited hours these days. Oh, and there’s the “Slot Palace” located at the old Bingo Hall across the street. It is also Soaring Eagle run, and it is not very palatial. Maybe I should go in and look for old games? Expect new/modern only inside the main casino with the occasional physical reel games.
Just being a little more inconvenient than Firekeepers, we don’t love going quite as much. But I do like it here. I can’t say I have had the same luck in getting comped rooms as Firekeepers, but the hosts may also be noting the fact that wasn’t losing last year when I visited. Ever. I will lose there again and might have done so about two months ago, but if you’re a hardcore video poker player, you owe it to yourself to come here.