Hollywood Casino Bangor

We (wife: advanced recreational VP player; me, checkskate misc player and tourist) stayed here for one night (Saturday) and played that night and on Sunday morning.  

  First point - this is CLEARLY a locals casino - 90% of the whining posted here has some truth in it if you are fans of the mega-casinos in MA and CN, but as a locals casino the Hollywood has its own appeal.  For the record, I've played at the mega-casinos in CN, and I've lost money pretty quickly there (and won some too).  I really can't say whether the Hollywood is "tighter" than the others, but I personally had better luck with the Hollywood slots than I have had at otehr places.  As a locals place, the Hollywood caters to an afternoon/evening crowd and shuts down for at least 3 hours every night.

   There are only three food options - a bar/grill, a quick snack place, and a buffet.  We had the poutine, fish and chips, and a blue-cheese burger at the bar/grill, and they were excellent, and not radically overpriced.  We had the Sunday brunch buffet and it also was excellent, with a variety equal to the larger casinos down south, but we ranked the Hollywood as superior in food quality and taste. 

   The casino floor is small - but that makes sense given the small population served.  I was there on a Saturday, and never struggled to find an machine I wanted to try, and could usually find a spot for BJ or craps.  The machines were clean and well-maintained, but you won't find very many of the newest big name games.  There were about 20 VP machines, mostly multi-game machines with 9-6 double bonus, all in one area of the casino floor, with denominations of 0.25 or $1.  The majority of the floor is given to penny slots (although if it costs 0.60 to activate all the lines, should it really be called a penny slot?).  $5 BJ and craps were available throughout Saturday afternoon and early evening - but I think the craps table went to $10 in the late evening. The $5 BJ was the usual horrible Vegas-strip rules (6-5 blackjack payoff, hit on soft 17, etc), and craps offered 5X odds.  Craps also offered the newer raft of bets (small/tall etc).  I believe the higher denomimation BJ tables offered better rules. There was also a good selection of alternative card games (I didn't try those) and a small but active live poker room. The whole casino floor is non-smoking.  

   The hotel is attached to the casino and the room was clean and the bed extremely comfortable. 

   There is a harness race track associated with the casino, but it is located several blocks away. I had visited it on a prior trip - definitely not as well maintained as the casino, but it drew a good crowd.

  There is no large showroom (although the civic arena across the street apparently does host big events).  A live band played Saturday evening - and they were actually pretty good.  

   The staff were uniformly helpful and welcoming. Beverage service was speedy compared to a lot of places I've been (but alcohol is NOT free). Food service was generally attentive but not annoying. BJ and craps dealers were friendly and extremely novice-tolerant.  BJ dealers offered play advice that was correct in basic strategy and didn't rush players. 

  In brief, if you're a big money player or a foodie (no name-brand chef places here), you'll probably be happier in the mega-casinos elsewhere.  If you live in the Bangor area or are visiting, the Hollywood is worth a visit - especially if you've wanted to try craps or Blackjack, but held off because of the high limits or crabby dealers.    

   

This is a small casino.  I play blackjack and craps.  I don't know about the other games, or poker.  I don't belong to their player club.

The casino is small but packed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.  On other nights, there is usually a $10 min blackjack ( 3-2 blackjack ) and a 5$ min ( 6-5 blackjack ) tables.  There are also higher minimum bets.

Craps is a small table with a $5 min bet, except late on busy nights.  Good odds are offered.

For both games, the dealers and pit bosses are efficient and friendly.  It is not always crowded, so the atmosphere is not always there.  I enjoy going.