Slots are tight and malfunction often- takes up to 30 minutes for someone to retreive your money- Most machines won't accept new bills. There are no table games, just machines emulating them. Customer service is marginal and announcements when someone does win are mostly by persons with heavy accents that are difficult to understand.
Players club offers few and poor mailers. Gaming atmosphere seems desperate with hoards of handicapped people shipped in on buses with frequent announcements to them to rejoin their party. No hotel- drinks are strictly non-alcoholic on the floor and servers surly, few and far between. Food is mediocre in all venues. Save your money up and go to Vegas. Even Strip casinos are better than any casino in New Mexico, especially Indian casinos. Don't Waste your time at Inn of the Mountain Gods either.
Penn Gaming has taken out many of the loosest (not very) machines and replaced them with new machines with 3X the maximum bet. Still takes 30 minutes minimum to get your money back out of the malfunctioning TITO bill acceptors on the remaining good machines. They are in the process of redo-ing their players club (Black Gold Club). Mailers are pitiful if they expect anyone who has ever had a card with Harrah's or MGM Mirage to come all the way from Texas. The Sports bet with simulcast has improved with a move to the second floor, but food service in it has not. Buffet is adequate, a little overpriced and they did away with the Black Gold Club card discount. The Black Gold Steakhouse is wonderful and is a good value for excellent food, even if they did lose the Green Chili Potato soup and the excellent cheese plate. I hear they are going to add a level to the card club with the next level at 40,000 points, but what can they offer? Free nights stays? There is no hotel, it's a race track. No alcohol on the gaming floor. They do have a beverage cart for sodas and such, but you seldom see it. One bright note is the self serve stations at each end of the casino. At least you can get a cup of coffee for the 4 hour trip home. The gift shop is gone. If they had improved the selection, it would have been much better than shutting it down. Personnel at the cage are cheerful and competent, just not enough of them- especially during promotions. The automated change/ticket redemption machines have been increased, and that is good. Publishing rules for tournaments and other promotions would help draw new customers instead of the same regulars. And you can now understand most of the announcements by English speakers.
Penn Nat. instituted upper level player's club card- the Black Card- 40,000 points over 6 months. Qualified for it, but don't know why I bothered. Only increased comps are "Vip Seating" in the club, 5x entries on promotions, and something else-don't remember what. Haven't got the new flyer yet, maybe there will be adequate coupons. We'll see. Still no table games-just machines. Lost my and my wife's favorite slots, but still trying the new replacements. Still no adult beverages on the slot floor, but the self serve soda fountains are great. Steak House is still the best for 200 miles in any direction, but it still doesn't open until 5pm. The new "Ice Bar" is laughable. 30 minutes of 180 db "sound check" by some mediocre local band was really annoying. Would go much more often if the slots weren't so tight and could make $300 last longer.
Trickle of new slots - some should be in the high limit room ($15.00 max bet!!!!!), some interesting, but tight. Service on malfunctioning slots much better. Enlarging the steak house (yayyy!!! hope they open for lunch)- hope the food stays as good when renovations are complete. Still no adult beverages on the floor, but that is NM's fault, not Penn's and the beverage stations are great for soft drinks and coffee. Saw no children in the buffet last Sunday trip - didn't have to cuss the morons who bring small children to a casino. Bring hand sanitizer as observed 15 out of 15 patrons did not wash their hands after urinating - must be a NM cultural thing. Did receive much better flyer for M Resort in Vegas, but slot play credits at Zia still pitiful.
