Mesquaki used to be our destination of choice...when we live 10 minutes from Prarie Meadows...but due to a very sluggish economy...Mesquaki has chosen to cut back players rewards to virtually nothing. It was more a slap in the face...then rewards so we will curtail our trips to Mesquaki...its as if they don't seem to think we are losing enough. The hotel is acceptable along with the buffet...but I have seen much better of both at Mystic lake and Redwing...in Minnesota. Quite honestly the state of Iowa is probably to blame for the decline at Mesquaki...we now have too many casinos...for a much smaller population than Illinois...Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Really sad it was a very nice casino...but in my opinion they have gone down considerably.
I'm an avid gambler and I enjoy the time I spend gambling. I love it when I get the chance to win but I am also a reasonable person who understands r.n.g. , payback percentage, and probability. I say that because I think most people forget about those things when they hit a multiple trip losing streak. We have all been there and it sucks but it isn't always the casinos fault or tight slots sometimes it's just bad luck and therefore should not warrant a negative review.
Meskwaki is an amazing place with a great players club, a huge slot selection, 24 hour pool, multiple bars, a vast collection of table games, a solid bingo hall, and hundreds of affordable hotel rooms. The staff is always friendly and helpful. The security does a great job without making you feel unwelcome. It's a great environment to relax and have some fun.
This casino is by far the best in Iowa. The players club has 4 levels (basic,gold,platinum,and elite). It only takes 2000 points to become a gold member and the benefits are amazing! 59 dollar hotel rooms sun-thur, 15% discount almost everywhere in the casino, 2 free rooms a month, invitations to vip events, comp dollars are earned by just playing your favorite games and then can be used for drinks, food, cigarettes, pretty much anything in the casino minus gambling, and 5 cents off per gallon of gas.
The 24 hour pool is a big plus in my book. I am quite a night owl and being able to hit the pool at 4am after a late night of slots is such a luxury. The buffet isn't anything to write home about and like most buffets some of the food is quite awful. They have a nice little cozy side room for betting on the horse races. It's a warm inviting space full of comfortable chairs and flat screen televisions. If bingo's your thing I'm sure you already know hands down the best hall in Iowa is at meskwaki. With computers that play for you and more special games then you could shake a stick at with amazing value to boot (1 dollar for a 1199 dollar payout)! On top of all that they offer a very fair payback on there slots, much better then riverside and the isle in waterloo in my opinion.
Some people gamble for the wrong reasons and some people just have bad luck, but if you're out to have some fun and relax while you gamble you have to check out meskwaki!
The playing action of this casino has really gone downhill! What in the world happened? Many of the large progressive jackpots have been eliminated, or downsized. For example, the dollar version of Sizzling Sevens with a progressive jackpot of $3000 has been downsized to quarter version and starting jackpot of $250. Monopoly has been eliminated. Wizard of Oz has been downsized from four machines to two. The 10 times pay nickel game with its multi-thousand jackpot has been removed. If you are looking for high paying progressives, you will have to visit the High Limit Room now.
Many of the games are simply outdated. They have an over abundance of first generation video poker machines. Popular games such as Zeus and Jungle Wild are limited to two machines each, in the whole building. You are NOT going to find any new games such as WMS's Hot Hot Super Respin Series (Zeus II, Palace of Riches III, Hearts of Venice... etc). You are NOT going to find Jungle Wild II. They do however have the new video QuickPick Progressive slots.
They do have a variety of slots, but as I stated, many of these are older games. The machines could use a good cleaning. Some of the buttons do not work. Many of the games have issues accepting cash and tickets.
The overall playing action is tight. There used to be a time when I could go to Meskwaki with $300 and have it last for many hours. Many times I could bring money home. This is no longer the case for me.
I tend to go to the casino late at night. There used to be quite a crowd, even overnight. Now there are only a few cars in the parking lot at night. Perhaps it's the poor economy. Perhaps it's because gamblers are going elsewhere.
I shredded my players card today! This place has to have the worst slot payouts in Iowa. Even for an Indian casino. I understand from a friend that they
are trying to recover the cost of recent renovations from the slots. Whatever the reason you will not be happy here .
