From the outside, Rivers doesn't look very flashy and sorta blends in with other businesses in the surrounding area. It's a single level casino, so all of the gaming, restaurants, etc. are all on one floor. They have a big parking garage and also plenty of parking outside. Even though the casino was packed with customers, there was plenty of parking spaces, so I guess many of their customers are probably using public transportation.
Based on my first impressions, Rivers is definitely a very nice casino, but it's too small considering the massive amount of visitors they've been receiving. Although, that could be because the place is brand new. The casino is also smokefree which I like, since I'm a nonsmoker. They have a separate smokers terrace for those who wish to smoke. As I recall, Illinois passed a law awhile back making all Illinois casinos smokefree, but allows for designated smoking areas away from the gaming areas.
Overall, I really didn't get that "Vegas" feel when I first walked into the casino. It did feel like a very "lively" place, but I think I'm spoiled by the massive size and the glitz/glimmer of all of my favorite Vegas casinos. The only local casino that I've felt somewhat of a Vegas vibe is at the Horseshoe-Hammond.
When I was standing in line (about 15 people in front of me) waiting to signup for their Rush Rewards players card, the lady next to me was shooting pics of the casino floor with her phone and was told by one of the workers not to take photos inside the casino (but the worker didn't tell her to delete the ones she already had taken). So, I only have the 2 shots of the outside area for now. I may try to sneak in a few interior pic, on a future visit ...LOL.
Considering that Rivers is brand new, I was sort of surprised that they were not giving out any incentives like some freeplay, discount dining coupons, etc. when you signed up for their players card. Their players card has 3 levels: Classic (0-4999 tier credits), Preferred (5000-39999 tier credits), and Signature (40000+ tier credits). $5 slot coin-in = 1 tier credit. I believe tier credits expire after 6 months, so you'll lose any credits if you don't give them some playtime within that time frame.
Gaming wise, I'm a slot player, so I spent most of my time donating $$ to several machines. Actually, I noticed that many of their slots (at least the $1 and quarters that I played) were much looser than those at the Horseshoe-Hammond ...Nice! I sat at $1 "Double/Double Gold Dabloon" slot (I think that's what it's called) and played for over an hour with just a $20 investment and cashed out with $162 before moving on to a different slot. I've never seen one of those machines at any of the other casinos, so it may be a new game. It's a reel slot (3 coins max) that has lots of combinations that payout varying amounts and the big jackpot is $10K. Also, I found my favorite 3X4X5X machines, but they weren't being very nice to me. I saw a couple of banks of WOF slots, but they're so popular that folks were standing around the players waiting for someone to leave. They have a pretty good variety of different slots and denominations, but most of the popular ones were all occupied.
I saw 4 handpays (2 on reel slots, 2 on VP) during the +3 hours that I was at the casino which was a pleasant surprise. I wanted to try my luck on some of the VP machines, but they were all occupied, so I also wasn't able to check the pay tables. There was lots of activity at most of the table games too and most were full. I was tempted into checking out the High Limit Slot Room which is just off of the main casino floor, but I figured that I might lose too much of my "Vegas Fund", so I stuck with the quarter and $1 slots.
As I recall, there are 6 dining venues which include their Canopy Buffet, a coffee shop, a steak house, a burger place, an asian noodle restaurant, and the Cube which is an entertainment venue that also serves snacks. I wanted to try out the asian noodle place, but all of the restaurants were so crowded that I decided not eat at the casino.
Anyhoo, I netted about $60, so it covered the cost of my late lunch at McDonalds (a couple of block down the road) and gas. I also racked up close to 500 tier points, so it'll be interesting to see what kind of offers they'll be sending out in the future.
Based on my first impressions, Rivers is definitely a very nice casino, but it's too small considering the massive amount of visitors they've been receiving. Although, that could be because the place is brand new. The casino is also smokefree which I like, since I'm a nonsmoker. They have a separate smokers terrace for those who wish to smoke. As I recall, Illinois passed a law awhile back making all Illinois casinos smokefree, but allows for designated smoking areas away from the gaming areas.
Overall, I really didn't get that "Vegas" feel when I first walked into the casino. It did feel like a very "lively" place, but I think I'm spoiled by the massive size and the glitz/glimmer of all of my favorite Vegas casinos. The only local casino that I've felt somewhat of a Vegas vibe is at the Horseshoe-Hammond.
When I was standing in line (about 15 people in front of me) waiting to signup for their Rush Rewards players card, the lady next to me was shooting pics of the casino floor with her phone and was told by one of the workers not to take photos inside the casino (but the worker didn't tell her to delete the ones she already had taken). So, I only have the 2 shots of the outside area for now. I may try to sneak in a few interior pic, on a future visit ...LOL.
Considering that Rivers is brand new, I was sort of surprised that they were not giving out any incentives like some freeplay, discount dining coupons, etc. when you signed up for their players card. Their players card has 3 levels: Classic (0-4999 tier credits), Preferred (5000-39999 tier credits), and Signature (40000+ tier credits). $5 slot coin-in = 1 tier credit. I believe tier credits expire after 6 months, so you'll lose any credits if you don't give them some playtime within that time frame.
Gaming wise, I'm a slot player, so I spent most of my time donating $$ to several machines. Actually, I noticed that many of their slots (at least the $1 and quarters that I played) were much looser than those at the Horseshoe-Hammond ...Nice! I sat at $1 "Double/Double Gold Dabloon" slot (I think that's what it's called) and played for over an hour with just a $20 investment and cashed out with $162 before moving on to a different slot. I've never seen one of those machines at any of the other casinos, so it may be a new game. It's a reel slot (3 coins max) that has lots of combinations that payout varying amounts and the big jackpot is $10K. Also, I found my favorite 3X4X5X machines, but they weren't being very nice to me. I saw a couple of banks of WOF slots, but they're so popular that folks were standing around the players waiting for someone to leave. They have a pretty good variety of different slots and denominations, but most of the popular ones were all occupied.
I saw 4 handpays (2 on reel slots, 2 on VP) during the +3 hours that I was at the casino which was a pleasant surprise. I wanted to try my luck on some of the VP machines, but they were all occupied, so I also wasn't able to check the pay tables. There was lots of activity at most of the table games too and most were full. I was tempted into checking out the High Limit Slot Room which is just off of the main casino floor, but I figured that I might lose too much of my "Vegas Fund", so I stuck with the quarter and $1 slots.
As I recall, there are 6 dining venues which include their Canopy Buffet, a coffee shop, a steak house, a burger place, an asian noodle restaurant, and the Cube which is an entertainment venue that also serves snacks. I wanted to try out the asian noodle place, but all of the restaurants were so crowded that I decided not eat at the casino.
Anyhoo, I netted about $60, so it covered the cost of my late lunch at McDonalds (a couple of block down the road) and gas. I also racked up close to 500 tier points, so it'll be interesting to see what kind of offers they'll be sending out in the future.
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