Highs outpaced the lows in 2011 gaming

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John Grochowski

Updated: January 31, 2012 8:04AM

Amid the usual mix of new games and revamped amenities that happen every year, there was one big, overpowering change that dwarfed all else in the Chicago-area casino scene in 2011: the opening of the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.

It had been 16 years since a new casino had opened in Illinois, and the opening of Rivers was by far the highlight of the gaming year. But as I toured the casinos in Illinois and Indiana, along with a couple of jaunts to Las Vegas, I compiled a few other highlights and a couple of lowlights of 2011:

FAVORITE NEW SLOT MACHINE TREND: I could pick just about anything from Chicago’s WMS Gaming, which seems to start a trend at every turn. Or a trend in the making, with Majestic Star being first in the Chicago area to offer server-based slots. But let’s go with games that allow players to choose their own volatility. At the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas in October, International Game Technology’s Twilight Zone slots and Spielo International’s Goldify hopped in the volatility-choice bandwagon started a few years ago by Arlington Heights-based Incredible Technologies.

FAVORITE NEW TABLE GAME: Another Chicago-area company, Leading Edge Design of Northbrook, has made a nice early splash with its first table game, 7-14-21. The game is on casino floors in Las Vegas, and I look forward to a Midwest debut.

FAVORITE VIDEO POKER EXPERIENCE: I had a great time on full-pay games at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, but closer to home, I had a nice surprise at Par-A-Dice in Peoria. There, I found the “not so ugly” version of Deuces Wild on quarter, single-hand games. It’s a 99.7 percent game with expert play.

LEAST FAVORITE GAMING TREND: The continued erosion of video poker pay tables in the Chicago area. There remain a few 99-percent-plus, 25-cent single-hand games at Majestic Star in Gary, but I find quarter video poker is unplayable at most other area casinos.

FAVORITE TABLE GAMES EXPERIENCE: Horseshoe in Hammond has the most tables, and the biggest variety of tables. Among the options are 100x odds on craps and the area’s leading live poker room.

LEAST FAVORITE TABLE GAMES EXPERIENCE: There are so few low-limit tables in the Chicago area, I was looking forward to a little $5 blackjack on a visit to Majestic Star. Unfortunately, there were so many negative rules — including double downs on 10 and 11 only and no doubling after splitting pairs — that I walked away without playing.

FAVORITE WISH FOR 2012: In a time of declining revenues, may local casinos move to win us back with higher-paying games, better video poker pay tables and lower table games minimum bets.

John Grochowski is a local free-lance writer. His “Casino Answer Man” tips air at 5:18 p.m. Tuesday-Friday on WLS-AM (890).