Casino Cage

  It was with no small degree of anticipation that we boarded our first voyage with Celebrity Cruises: a four-night jaunt from Fort Lauderdale, Florida over to Bimini and Nassau in the Bahamas. This was a cruise offer we received from the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City that allowed us to choose from a list of “free” (more on this later) cruises from Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Having already cruised with NCL, Carnival, and MSC, we were looking forward to the more upscale tone promised by Celebrity. Not to be found here were the boorish drunkards inhabiting your typical four-night Carnival cruise. Yet, Celebrity does aim younger and less stuffy than the scooter-bound octogenarians who supposedly inhabit Holland America's ships. We were eager to see if Celebrity struck the right balance between classiness and fun, between maturity and youthful exuberance. We especially went into the voyage understandably curious about the casino. After all, it was our casino play that got us the ...

I decided to tackle Aristocrat's Pompeii Slot which has been a popular slot machine since it's release in 2017. The volcano represents Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in 79AD covering the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in a cloud of ash. While it was a major catastrophe, it produced some of the best preserved artifacts of it's time period. If you decide to visit, you can walk along the main street and see a tavern, residences, a brothel and communal bath house.  The wealthier residences will have colorful frescoes. The main forum has Roman columns and the remains of temples and government buildings. You can also travel to Mount Vesuvius and walk to the top. The crater is ropped off but you can take pictures with the smoking crater in the background.  The Gold Coin refers to Pompeii the Roman general formally named Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. He was a Roman general who lived from 106BC to 48 BC. He was prominent general before becoming active in politics. He is known ...

 Jostens is the official jeweler of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). They manufacture the WSOP Circuit Rings, WSOP.com rings, and the WSOP Championship Bracelet. They partnered with WSOP to create a fan collection.  It's a small collection but the garnet and black onyx accent poker chip is noteworthy. Image showing up to your weekly poker game with this card protector.

  I visited Turning Stone Casino and Resort in upstate New York and it's my new favorite place.  The casino offers free self serve drink stations (non- alcoholic), a mix of old and new slots, table games, poker and black jack tournaments, a full gaming floor for smoking, a huge bingo room, newly renovated rooms with killer views, fine dining along with a cafeteria, nightlife and an awesome players club.  Did I leave anything out? Being run on Native American owned land the casino is 18+ to gamble. Hence a great mix of young, middle aged and older people.  Check out their calendar before planning a trip.  It's definitely worth it to stay a couple days. They host popular bands, comedians and boxing events. They is also a spa and golf resort.  The highlight of my trips, there have been more then one in 2025, are the Steakhouse, Bingo Room and selection of old slots. Take the elevator to the penthouse floor and you've reached TS Steakhouse.  With hig...

 If you travel to Las Vegas more than once a year this book is a great value. The Las Vegas Advisor Member Rewards Book has coupons for drinks, food, entertainment, hotel stays and game play. Coupons are good in the calendar year that the book was purchased for. You can find out more information about purchasing the book and becoming a member on the Las Vegas Advisor website . 

 I recently returned from my cruise to Alaska aboard Carnival's Spirit. The casino is located on the 2nd floor mid ship.  It's a mid sized room with slots, table games and some cash claw/key machines. Players can use their room keys as player's cards to earn points or even charge to their account.  The Carnival app on your phone lets player's easily track points, tournament times and purchase lottery tickets.  This was my second time sailing Carnival and again was disappointed with the casino.  Supply did not meet demand, on sea days and evenings I had trouble finding free machines.  I personally favor slots with 50 cent or less minimum bets, but only found 4 machines with this option. I recognized many of the games including several variations of huff and puff, lobstermania, mummies, trains, and several Asian themed slots. Again it's disappointing that most slots started at 75 cents, 88 cents or 1 dollar minimum bet.  Based on my current budget I avoi...