THERE IS NO WIN IN WINSTAR
To any one thinking they are going to capitalize at WinStar Casino in OK, better THINK AGAIN. Now everybody knows that the house always has the advantage. As a frequent player I would like to share some of the pitfalls learned along the way, some of which I wished had been given to me prior to going. If I can spare even one individual, it will be worth it. WinStar has come up with a few extra ways to help you part with your money.

First some of the common unknowns. NO ALCOHOL is served at WinStar, WinStar is NOT open 24 hours a day, the establishment ( I hate to call it a casino, since they don’t run it like one) is divided into 3 sections the first of these 3 sections is shut down at 3 or 4am regardless of how much investment you may have put into a machine you will get thrown out. The second section closes at 5am and the last section or entire building shuts down at 6am NO EXCEPTIONS. To the best of my knowledge this information is not posted anywhere, I've seen many customers burned by this trick (work a machine to then be told by security to get off it). Almost every game uses a magnetic type card, which tracks every thing you do there along with keeping track of your money. From your initial investment and any winnings you may have been fortunate to obtain. VERY IMPORTANT if you do not redeem the monies on these cards or any tickets printed from a cashed out machine by 6am, that money will be gone. WinStar makes a feeble attempt of warning you on this but again I've seen and been victim to this "low blow" of WinStar's. WinStar does very little in the way of "Comps". After spending somewhere between $30,000 - $50,000 did I finally get a comp for a free meal; I HAD TO ASK THEM FOR IT THOUGH. WinStar's rewards points work like this; Last time I was updated you will receive $1 for every $600 you play, so if you plan on having the $12.95 steak dinner + drink, tax & tip on your rewards points you better plan on playing approx. $10,800.

CUSTOMER INCONVEINECE is the specialty of the house. Most games use the card, others will pay out tickets which need to be redeemed, you will love it when you stand in line to cash in your ticket only to finally get up to the teller and be told they can't cash that kind of ticket. You probably will have to go all the way to the other side of the establishment to redeem. My favorite is when they tell you the person responsible for that type of payoff is on break or at lunch (the trick here is to aggravate you enough to go back out on the floor and start losing back the money). I've even been told on more than one occasion "We are out of money" You'll be guaranteed to see the most people available to assist at the least needed time and the least amount of assistants at the most needed time "Blackjack cashing out, a joke".

Blackjack the player's best bet, usually. NOT HERE It has been told to me in probably 14 different tales, what the $.50 ante is used for. Regardless you as the player will be out $.50 for each and every hand you play, win, lose or draw no matter if the state is given this money and the casino can't show it as a profit etc., etc.. I've seen blue colored cards mixed into red colored decks, short shoes, cards found on the floor, etc., etc. if you don't know the word "gaffed" better look into it. Read up on the average number of times a dealer should flop a ten valued card then go to WinStar and count how many they flop, talk about pre-arranged. Learn lots more about Blackjack at blackjackforumonline you will need to be able to see a stacked deck and continuous shuffle machines can easily be setup against players.

"The quietest casino I've ever been in", a good indicator of a casino's slot pay out opportunities as a whole is to listen for the winning sounds. People tend to get loud when a winner appears and the slots will usually produce a winner indicated noise. I have been in the WinStar when nobody is there and I have been there when it is at full capacity. On many of these occasions when the establishment is full I have noted the noise indicators resemble an empty casino. Let me put it to you like this. Why does WinStar feel it necessary to announce over the loud speaker every time they have a jackpot. Here's a theory, usually when something comes along that’s rare people tend to brag about it and since it happens so infrequently they want the other couple of thousand people playing who were not in the vicinity to witness to know (I wonder how many fall for this). A jackpot is $1,200 and up, the majority paid out are between $1,200-$2,000. These types of pay outs are very rare. In most cases you will lose your initial investment and try again and again etc. Eventually you hit, think you’re a winner, chances are your not. If you don’t immediately leave you are going to lose more of the winnings, subtract the investment prior and the taxes you will have to pay and the end result is usually negative. Don't think you can make up the difference by claiming losses on your taxes either. You can only claim losses up to the total amount of winnings and the way the gov't factors those two you get screwed even more. You wont be avoiding the whole tax thing either, if you want your money you have to fill out the forms and WinStar will send in your claim so the gov't will know. If you like to gamble play the state lottery. If you need a casino go to Louisiana or ones that are regulated. The cost of the drive will be offset by the generous comps offered elsewhere. Why give your money away to an operation that won't even show their appreciation for your business. This is a hospitality industry apparently Winstar was never informed.