This past Saturday I made a trip to St. Croix Casino, Danbury, Wisconsin. From my home in Minneapolis, it is a 118 mile (one way) trip. This Casino was formerly the Hole In The Wall Casino. However, you'd never know it. Everything from the Casino building to the parking lot is brand new. Some small exterior construction is still in progress. All Hole In The Wall Casino chips are now obsolete.

I joined their players club, the "St. Croix Perks". By joining I received a coupon good for $3 off any food item from any restaurant on the premises and a coupon (wish it would have been a chip!) for a free $5 Blackjack bet. This Casino also has live Craps and Roulette. The only restaurant open during my visit was a delicatessen. I paid a whopping $1.48 for my turkey sandwich, potato salad and chips with the use of my coupon. Soft drinks and coffee are complimentary at the delicatessen, as they are throughout the Casino.

I did have a problem picking up chips. As is generally the case with casinos in my home state of Minnesota, St. Croix Casino would not sell chips from the cashiers cage. (Minnesota's two card clubs, Canterbury Card Club and Running Aces Harness Park are happy to sell chips from the cashiers cage). The way I pick up chips in "Indian Casino Land" is to find an open Blackjack table with no players. I tell the Dealer exactly what I'm doing and what I want. I'm very friendly about it, always tip the Dealer, and have never had a problem getting chips. Until now. When I asked to buy chips, the Dealer asked his boss about it. She said that buying chips without playing Blackjack would prompt an immediate visit from the Pit Supervisor, who might not approve of the purchase. I think the problem was that I wanted a lot of 50¢ and $1 chips. They didn't seem to care about $25 and $5 chips. I asked the boss if there was a way to obtain the chips I wanted, and she said sure. I was told to buy in and request the exact number of $25 chips I wanted to bring home, and get $5 chips for the balance of my buy in. Then simply play a little Blackjack. So, here I am, a chip collector that doesn't usually play Blackjack, I don't even like Blackjack, but I'll do whatever it takes to get some chips. At the Blackjack table, I'm not sure what to do next to get the chips I want. After a few hands, the boss comes back and tells the dealer that I wanted change and he should give it to me. I obtained some 50¢ and $1 chips and moved on real fast, as the Pit Boss was heading my way!

I did use my $5 Blackjack coupon, which I hadn't planned on using. The strange thing is that cash wise, I came out exactly even after my Blackjack play. I didn't pick up any $100 chips. I do have chips for everyone that requested them. And I have everything everyone requested, but sadly, only a couple of extras. (If you requested chips from me, you'll receive an email later today.) Chips from this Casino were previously offered on this Board, so maybe most people that wanted them now have them? Because I have so few extras, I've put them up for sale on eBay, link to auctions, below.

Other information from my casino visit:

Poker Room - is now open. The chips used in the Poker Room are the same chips used throughout the entire Casino.

Tokens - I couldn't find any in use. Every machine I saw accepted and issued Tickets. I asked one slot person about tokens and was told that the Casino didn't use them.

Gift Shop - I always check gift shops for souvenir, key chain, etc. chips. I didn't find any.

Roulette - Nice inlayed Roulette chips are in use on the Casino's one Roulette table. Sorry, I don't have any for sale.

A final note about what I thought was a strange policy at this Casino. Most gaming machines are set to create a hand pay with wins of $500 or more. Hand pay amounts are usually set at $1200 or more, for income tax purposes. I asked about this $500 hand pay policy and was told that most gamblers prefer hand pays. It gives them something to brag about, I was told! This gambler does not prefer hand pays for wins less than $1200.