Shouldn’t this be a state secret?

The very clever series of commercials for Grand Casino (developed by the talented Chad Germann and his team at Red Circle Agency) has always made me feel like I should have one of those experiences at some point. Sadly, I’ve never had a large jackpot at Hinckley or Mille Lacs, but today my daughter and I at least had something happen that might qualify as a true Grand Story:

Hinckley has a ton of my favorite game, Black Orchid, often with unusually high progressives. The first machine I played today had a large frog progressive, so MK pulled out her lucky frog (a handmade clay pin) and set it on the machine. A few minutes later, boom, $78.43 frog jackpot. On our way out, we saw another Black Orchid that had a very large butterfly progressive that we tried to hit (unsuccessfully). Just before giving up, though, we hit a smaller $30.61 frog jackpot that put us back on the positive side of the ledger for the night…

Not usually a fan of prime rib, but this was delicious

https://www.startribune.com/from-play-ball-to-play-bally-s-sinclair-betting-on-legal-gambling-to-boost-viewership/573452881/

Breakfast, lunch or dinner – always good

Thank you, babies!

Such a solid joint

Snol’s casino debut

Tank for Trevor?

But I only hit the cat one

…but it didn’t stick around

Chicken wild rice soup @ Minnehaha Cafe, Mystic Lake

Thanks, Grand Portage (gave it all back)

I miss Mel

Approach to nine green, peak color, The Wilderness at Fortune Bay #nofilter

Top notch food at Fortune Bay

Small bets lead to small jackpots

And now it’s obvious what it funds

No winners @ Lucky’s 13

The Orchid at Grand Casino Mille Lacs was hot

Amazing what $1300 of coin-in will get you

I’ve been fortunate to continue working through the pandemic, but it’s been tough to take time away (especially since I’m the only IT person left). Thanks to the support of my boss and one of our awesome game day staffers, I was able to take a week off without looking at work email once. We originally intended to spend the week on Isle Royale National Park, but the ferry and Rock Harbor Lodge decided to scrap the whole 2020 season and our reservations were cancelled.

Plan B was to stay the first half of the week at Lutsen Resort and the Fourth of July weekend on Lake Vermilion (at Fortune Bay). Those plans changed as the temperatures kept rising – it was even hot along the usually cool shoreline of Lake Superior and we discovered upon check-in that Lutsen Resort does not have air conditioning. They were accommodating by offering us a full refund, but there were really no other options in Lutsen or the surrounding spots (Grand Marais, Tofte, Grand Portage). Fortune Bay could get us in early, so we set off on highway 1 through Ely and decided to spend the whole week on Vermilion.

Fortune Bay has done a nice job with COVID safety and procedures. They had temperature checks set up on the entry road, mandatory face masks and lots of signage, plexiglass and hand sanitizer. The casino floor had basically every other machine turned off, but they kindly turned on my favorite game for the week (big thanks to EJ). I think I made it worth their hassle, though, while still getting a lot of quality playing time. They had Frozen-themed giveaways on Thursday and Friday for 100 points earned (an Olaf waffle maker on day one and an Olaf snow cone maker on day two), so I spread my playing time out accordingly. Marisa really, really wanted these, so I was happy for the solid play-through.

Food options during the week were a little limited, but what was open was solid. We stopped at the Ely Steakhouse on the way over from Lutsen and they were following all of the state orders for in-person dining. On the other end of the spectrum, the Vermilion Club was following just about none of the rules, which blew us away (maybe “VC” really stands for Virus Central). We still ate there twice in-person and had take-out a third day, because Poor Gary’s pizza and the bleu cheese and chicken wings are Northland classics (hopefully we were personally careful enough).

Back at Fortune Bay, I hit the Wilderness Grill four times, having great experiences each time. The new chef used to work at Alma in Minneapolis and I really liked all of the sandwiches I tried (pulled chicken, walleye, porchetta and cheeseburger). Their new fries are reminiscent of the state fair classics. In the casino proper, we had a wonderful dinner at the Sunset Steakhouse and stopped several times at the Gold Mine Grill, which is getting better with service and staffing (they’ve always had great coffeeshop-style food options). The Tamarack Buffet was closed for service, but was the room was being used for socially-distanced overflow seating.

Thought I would play a lot of golf during the week, but the temperatures were warm and I just didn’t feel like going every day. I did drive down to Coleraine to play Eagle Ridge with the Millers and got in a twilight round on The Wilderness with John, Cathy and Bonnie. The whole region needs rain badly, so there were some near-dead areas on both courses (especially in the roughs). The Wilderness also has a lot of behind the scenes changes: the contract with KemperSports was not renewed and former golf GM Tom Beaudry and superintendent Vince Dodge have both moved on to the state of cheese. Still love that course, though, and it continues to be the one I’ve played the most.

It was also great to hang out at Dacha Batinich on Birch Point again with Mary and the crew. Big thanks to John and Cathy for taking us out on the boat for a pizza picnic (and for taking Sasha and Marisa out again later in the week). Skip-Bo games and great conversations make that little cabin a very special place indeed.

Fortune Bay’s Gold Mine Grill

Can’t believe this game added the $50 level to my prize

Casino promos (100 points each)

Bay muffin at the Gold Mine Grill

And I’m still down (but got my waffle maker)

And we like him too

Totally worth the price

Fortune Bay Resort Casino

An old Don Frantz favorite

Mystic Steakhouse is still rockin’ it during the pandemic

Such pretty graphic design

Happy anniversary, Minnesota Lottery

First served meal in months, Minnehaha Cafe

Quick, fun stop at Grand Casino

Well done, Grand Casino – more fun than Mystic right now

Why the hate for the Orchid?

It was a pretty fun night @ Mystic

First Avenue 50th scratcher

Getting closer to unlocking the secret of this damn game

$50 scratcher (!)

Good night for fire progressives

I guess loser, loser doesn’t rhyme with dinner, eh?

Made $200 + free dinner

Just a bunch of little ones @ Mystic Lake

Shouldn’t have gotten here early

Fun, inexpensive night at the nino

https://www.thelines.com/legalized-sports-betting-officiating/

Wisconsin casinos are similar, yet so different

Sweargen, you cock-sucka

Wish I could’ve tried for all the others too

Left up $77 from my $100 free play

But I will take the $56

$116 progressive jackpot on a 0.38 bet

Could be a 50-cent life changer

While I worked for a number of years in the casino business, my property never offered sports betting. As it now spreads across the United States, it is starting to make an impact with my current industry, professional sports venue management. I haven’t done a lot of research on this topic, but I feel like both sides aren’t fully prepared for all the potential side effects of a much larger pool of bettors.

Minnesota has always had a unique gaming environment among states and the various types of tribal compacts, so I don’t envision any immediate changes in the landscape. As it sweeps across the country, though, I imagine Minnesota will join at some point – too much money is involved to completely sit out. Minnesota tribes have understandably been reluctant to reopen the gaming agreements, but most of the larger ones already have ties to professional sports in one form or another.

As a technical venue manager, I’m curious as to what additional demands will be made on wireless networks, digital signage, cyber security and real-time statistical data feeds if sports betting is approved here. Not to mention physical changes to buildings if things like betting windows were ever to be added. I can easily imagine fans having sports betting apps on their phones, placing bets in their seats during a game and wanting to cash out winners immediately.

Lastly, I had another thought while watching the Twins lose their epic battle with the Yankees the other night. If human referees and umpires are still used in all leagues (which is likely), what extra security measures will be needed when they make bad calls? Will it influence how they make calls in the first place? It’s already a challenging environment with rowdy fans who have had too much to drink…

Thanks a lot, Stompy

https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2019/07/11/the-cosmopolitan-las-vegas-hotel-is-now-better-than-ever/

Just *once* I’d like something other than the smallest one, Stompy…

…now let’s go home

Scary-ass IGT slot monkeys @ Grand Portage

Dinner at Mystic + no luck (or play time) on the slots

Slot holds are rough on the Strip

Caesar’s Palace and the Palms

Not much return on a 2.50 bet

Starting to have a love/hate relationship with the Mirage

http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/26740441/one-year-legal-us-sports-betting-learned

I never realized that Snoop Dogg should be on my artist bucket list, but I was really, really wrong. Friday night’s show at Treasure Island Resort & Casino (of all places) was quite the experience. Calvin Broadus Jr. has had an amazing 47 years of life. Seriously, go read his Wikipedia page right now. Even if you aren’t a fan of rap music, Snoop’s influence on pop culture is undisputed.

It shouldn’t be a complete surprise that the show started late, with a DJ set that seemed to be stalling for time until opener Warren G finally did a short 25-minute set that concluded with Regulate. After a much shorter wait, Snoop took the stage for an entertaining hour-long set that included tributes to Nipsey Hussle, Biggie and Tupac. He covered all the big crowd-pleasers:

• Murder Was The Case
• The Next Episode
• Gin & Juice
• Drop It Like It’s Hot
• Who Am I (What’s My Name)?

The supporting cast for Snoop’s part of the evening included Tha Dogg Pound, six pole dancers (with only four poles), a “Nasty Dogg” mascot in full costume and several very burly security guards (that were definitely not a part of the seriously conflicted house security). The crowd (and artist) must’ve been extra challenging for the house managers, as there was ample gin and juice being consumed and Snoop kept encouraging people to light up all night.

Sounds like “DJ Snoopadelic” showed up for an after show DJ set at Muse Event Center in Minneapolis at some point after midnight (with a $100 cover). Still have to wonder, though, how Treasure Island got the full concert booking. Snoop-A-Loop, indeed!

The “new guy” joined the band in 1973…