Cleveland Horseshoe Casino review from an avid slots player

As a prelude to this article, I'm an avid slots player, having played just about every type of slot machine there is, in multiple denominations, in 4 countries and over 2 continents. I've played enough to recognize when games have fair payouts or are a ripoff, and have had my fair share of both wins and losses. This review is based on my visit to the casino on Wednesday, 2.5 days after the grand opening. Now onto the good stuff. PARKING: Parking at the new Horseshoe Casino is confusing, at best. Being in an old department store smack on the corner of Public Square, the casino has no ample parking lot of its own. On the Horseshoe website, they've indicated several nearby lots where it will be free to park *if* you are a Total Rewards member that plays 15 tier credits and plays for 30 minutes. Seems easy enough. I checked the website to decide which lot would be most accessible, and chose the West 3rd and Prospect lot. I get to the area that seems to be the lot and asked the attendant. He indicated the lot across West 3rd was the official lot, so I left that lot and headed to the other. Oops, can't get in -- they're working on the railroad-style barricades and there seems to be no way in. I drove around the block to look for another entrance, entering what appeared to be the back of the same lot. Nope, different operation with no attendant. I left and decided to head to the old garage area connected to Tower city, following the huge CASINO PARKING sign. I drive through the garage and parked outside, for ease of finding the car later. Guess what? This lot won't validate, as it's not an official Horseshoe lot. NOTE: MANY of the parking lots now say "casino parking" but don't validate. Only the ones labeled "Horseshoe Casino" will. After 4 hrs in the lot, it cost me $9. THE LINE: I entered through Tower City to find a somewhat long line at 4pm. It took an hour to get in, and I was surprised the place was nearly empty. It looked like Vegas at 4 am-noon. The line seems to have been there simply for hype. Oddly enough, when I left at around 8 pm, the place was packed and there was no line at all. Very odd. THE GAMES: As would be expected, this brand new casino has all brand new games. There are plenty of one-armed bandit style slots, but new ones made to play like the old style. The first playing level of the casino seems full of these. I played for a while on this level on some video slots and the money left my hands almost as quickly as flushing it down the toilet. I decided to venture up to the next level, where the high limits room and food court are. I saw someone winning a decent amount on one of those stacked wild slots, so played another near them. Gameplay was getting better. This machine had a 40-cent minimum bet (penny slot.) Eventually I found some others I hadn't seen in other casinos and ended up ahead for the night. As for types of slots, there were many games I didn't recognize, and I play often -- I was in Vegas in the past two months, even, and also at Presque Isle a couple times. There were also some of the classic video slots such as Cleopatra and Pompeii (old favorite). There were penny slots, loads of 2cent ones, nickels, dimes, quarters, on up to a $500 machine in the high limits room. (Most machines in high limits are the reel style rather than video slots.) Progressives: Many of the machines, especially the 2-cent slots, had minor progressives connected to gameplay. Some of them had a minor progressive payout set at only $5, which seems hardly worth it, as everyone surely spends far more than that to win the progressive. The highest level progressives (on 1 or 2 cent slots with max bet around $1.50-$3) were usually in the $1k-$2k range -- not that great, but it's something. I didn't see any of the massive progressive jackpot games, but then again, wasn't looking for those. I was mostly scoping the place out and testing gameplay. Other Notes: There's a tiny food court on the next gaming level (floor 3) that has 3, maybe 4 restaurants. One of them sells bratwursts and fried bologna, lol. This is near the high limit room. - ALL of the ticket redemption/bill breaker machines went down at the same time, meaning a visit to the cashier was needed for even minor banking. You'd think these would be connected to multiple servers rather than one. Maybe they will be in the future. (they were working fine when I first got there.) - The top floor of the casino is the poker area; it looked pretty fun for players and there was a bit of a wait for a spot at a table. - the vibe is pretty decent in the casino (the 2nd gaming level moreso than the 1st). There's a bar area with chairs to lounge around in on the slots floor, and some decent modern pop/r&b pumping through the speakers. That area was fun and actually felt a bit like Vegas -- much moreso than the other 2 gaming floors. -- Air conditioning works well within the casino, but seemed non-existent in the Tower City hallway leading up to the entrance. That hallway still has the rundown Tower City vibe to it, even though it has been dressed up just a little. All in all, the casino was fun and I'll be back. It's nice to see a bit of excitement and finally, some people! in the downtown area. Have fun!

How to Write an Essay about a Song Melody

Step 1

Listen closely to the song until you can identify the melody. The melody is the musical phrase within the song which carries the dominant vocals or the main "tune" you could hum. It's usually the most recognizable part of the song.

Step 2

Replay the song as many times as it takes to have the melody nearly memorized. Determine how the melody makes you feel and jot that down on the notepad. Is the melody happy or sad? Does it create a mood? Does it remind you of something in nature, such as rain or a buzzing insect? Whatever thoughts come to mind when hearing the melody, write them down on your notepad.

Step 3

Determine which instruments, if any, carry the melody. If there are vocals in the song, listen to the instrumentation to see if one of the instruments mimics the vocal melody. Write down your findings. If the song is sung, does the mood of the melody match the mood of the lyrics? Note your observations.

Step 4

Listen to the complete song and determine how many times the melody is repeated before the end. Does the melody change at all? How is the melody treated at the beginning and end of the song? At what point does the melody begin? Write down your answers to all of these questions on your notepad as well as any other thoughts that come to mind about the melody of the song.

Step 5

Read through your notes and circle or mark the ideas you'd like to include in your essay. Determine which would make a good opening point for your paper by picking the idea that you feel you could write the most about, or the idea that seems strongest to you. Decide a basic order for the points of your essay, placing the ones you feel most strongly about, or that you could write the most about, near the top.

Step 6

Write your essay, beginning with your strongest statement. Be sure to include the title of the song near the beginning as well as the composer or songwriter if necessary for your class. Start new paragraphs for each different idea about the melody as laid out in your notes.

Step 7

Write a closing statement that summarizes your findings about the melody, or otherwise neatly wraps up the paper. This gives the paper a sense of closure by briefly touching upon the main points of the article and reminding the reader of your points about the melody.

Natural homemade way to get rid of fruit flies

Regardless of the cleanliness of your house, fruit flies are bound to make their way inside from time to time. A little fresh fruit ripening in a bowl looks nice one day, then the next, fruit flies are found near the fruit or flying around the kitchen. While they may seem impossible to prevent, fruit flies are easy to get rid of with items you have around the house. The ingredients are safe to use and inexpensive as well.

Step 1

Fill a small clear jar or disposable plastic cup halfway with apple cider vinegar. You may add a little water to the vinegar, if desired, to prevent wasting vinegar.

Step 2

Squirt three or four drops of liquid dish soap into the vinegar. Do not stir or mix the soap and vinegar.

Step 3

Place the jar or cup in the area where you've seen fruit flies. If they've been spotted all over the kitchen, place the jar on a counter or table near areas where you've kept fruit. The jar can also be placed near the sink if you've seen fruit flies near the drain. Remove any ripening fruit from the kitchen and put it in the refrigerator.

Step 4

Check the jar frequently. You should see fruit flies that have drowned in the vinegar and soap solution. At the end of the day or the next morning, dump the old vinegar solution down the drain and refill the jar with more vinegar and soap.

Step 5

Repeat Step 4 until no more fruit flies are found. It may take two or three days to capture all the fruit flies. When no more flies are caught, dump the liquid down the drain and wash or dispose of your jar or cup.

Special Notes:

Apple cider vinegar works far better than regular vinegar for this technique.

Some variations include covering the jar with a funnel or with plastic wrap with holes poked in it, but this technique works best without any covering.

Warnings

Do not leave rotting or partially eaten fruit in your indoor trash cans, especially during summer months. Fruit flies and other pests will be attracted to the scent. Either throw old produce in the outdoor trash or freeze it until your trash goes out for removal.

Lebron jokes around with Cavs bench. Why?

At last night's Cavs vs Heat game, Lebron James was frequently seen hanging out near the Cavs' bench, looking like he was having fun. this was enough to steam Charles Barkley, who felt it wasn't very professional. Lebron handled himself well though, although it really seems he was out to show off to his former fanbase. Whatevs Lebron.

Hats off to Cleveland fans though, who didn't stalk him or throw stuff at him the way other rabid fans may do.

Does Google Instant Know What You're Thinking?

Google, the most popular search engine on the internet, recently released Google Instant -- a speedier way to find what you may potentially be looking for. Type in a word or two in google.com's search box and suggestions will appear as you type. The suggestions are often hilarious and supposedly based on trends. Does Google know what you want? Here's a sampling:

Typing in "why" pulls up "why is the sky blue?" and "why is a raven like a writing desk?"

Typing in "who" results in "who won American Idol?"

"How come" nets "How come you don't call me?" (partial title of a Prince song) or "how come lyrics."

"Where can" brings up "where can I buy silly bandz" and "where can I watch free movies online."

"What if" once again goes the music route -- "What if" lyrics and "What if God was one of us."

"Why do" nets "why do cats purr?" and "Why do dogs eat grass?"

"How long" results in "how long does it take to boil corn?" and "how long does it take to get a passport?"

"What do I" turns into "What do I want to eat?"

Based on these results, it seems google users as a whole like music, free movies, silly bandz and for search engines to tell us what we want for dinner.

So does Google Instant know what its users are thinking? In this case, not at all.

Cleveland trashes Lebron

Cavs lovers know just what to do with a cardboard Lebron standup. (Perhaps alcohol was involved.. hmm.) More here: http://weirdeststuff.com/2010/07/cleveland-trashes-lebron/

which will do a better job for the oil spill cleanup: BP or goverment?

We came across a headline earlier hinting that people trust BP more than the government as far as getting the oil spill cleaned up. Interesting. what do u think?


(gross reference alert -- stop reading if you don't want to see the next part!)







maybe tampax should step in..just saying.