Players aplenty: A 'wow' reaction as bettors fill slots, tables
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Apr. 5—Craig Williams of Indianapolis arrived at the Terre Haute Casino Resort on Friday morning when doors opened at 10:30. He was asked to compare it to the casinos in his hometown.
"I should have stayed in Indy," he said with a laugh. His response was likely due to the fact that he had lost a couple of hundred dollars in a couple of hours.
"It's all right, it's cool," Williams said. "Ah, yeah, I'll keep playing."
Thousands of gamblers poured into the casino on opening day and immediately went to work having fun.
People descended immediately on the slot machines, and eventually filled the gaming tables, as well. The outdoor smoking-allowed area, with 200 slots, was likewise at capacity.
A few slots were old school and had levers to pull, but few players went to the effort to use them, preferring to press the more low-impact buttons.
Most of the slots would not qualify for the old "one-armed bandit" name. None gushed coins when players hit jackpots like the slots of old, but still made plenty of noise on payouts amidst the casino's cacophony.
Five of the six live poker tables were at capacity before mid-morning, and the poker room had lines later in the day, with a screen displaying the waiting list.
The only area of the casino where the word "smattering" might apply to gaming tables in the High Limit room (its high-roller slot machines were plenty busy, though).
As lunchtime approached, the line to order inside the Soda Shoppe diner extended out into the casino and remained there for several hours.
Dozens upon dozens lined up in queues most of the day to enroll in the casino's Players Club.
Desirea Butler drove from her home in Fort Wayne to visit the casino.
"So far, so good — trying to win some money," she said. "That's definitely the goal, but I like the game so far. So far I've won $50, and I gave it right back. But it's still early, so we got some time to win some big money."
She said she'll "definitely" return for more action.
Marcia White made the two hour drive from French Lick and declared Terre Haute's newest attraction larger than her hometown casino, adding that "Wow" was her immediate reaction.
"So far, I'm winning a little bit — $100," she said. When does she know to quit?
"That's a tough one," White said. "When I'm way above what I brought or when I'm out of money. When I'm out of money, I go home."
Carla Wallace of Clinton summed up her casino experience: "I had fun." But did she win? "No."
She would not reveal how much she played beyond "Not much. I set a goal and if I hit that goal, I'm done.
"It's very beautiful here," Wallace added. "It's just overwhelming on the first day because there are too many people and you can't get on the machines you want to be on."
Compared to other casinos Wallace has visited, she said the Terre Haute Casino Resort was "bigger. And awesome, because it's in our hometown."
Brazil resident Aaron Marshall, whose slot had tapped him for all but seven cents of the credits he'd put in, said he'd lost $100 in the past two hours.
"I'll be back," he said. "I enjoy a casino. It's a nice casino, it's gorgeous."
Tanysha Moss of Indianapolis declared Terre Haute's casino "much better" than casinos in her city.
"I actually won some money here, so I'm going to count that as a win," she said. She wouldn't reveal the amount that poured into her coffers, but said, "I won enough to make me smile. I will definitely return."
Local officials didn't share Moss's luck.
"I lost $100 pretty quickly on the slots," said Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer.
Former Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett said, "I only stuck $20 in a machine, but I'm kind of tight. I didn't hit anything, but other people are winning, and that's what it's all about."
Bennett spent time at a roulette table watching his wife Pam pile up chips. The former mayor said on his way into the casino, he encountered a couple from Texas.
"They said that they like casinos — they don't have any in Texas — and they drove all the way up here because they heard they were opening one up here that was supposed to be nice," Bennett said.
