As a Vegas regular, I can attest that the slot payback percentage in Cherokee is terrible. I never expect to win and in fact rarely if ever win, but the machines are so tight in Cherokee there is no entertainment involved. The Catawba Indians are trying to get a Casino in North Carolina and the Cherokee are fighting it because they know competition will force them to offer a decent gambling operation. The facility is really nice and the table games are good, but stay away from the slots unless you like donating money without having any fun along the way. Sure people win jackpots, but you have the same chance with that as playing the lottery. Good slots provide hours of entertainment and only slowly grinds away your money.
I would encourage the Cherokee Tribe to be transparent and release their slot payout percentage because I think it is low 80s.
Let's just say that I am in 100% agreement with the tight slots feedback here. It actually goes beyond just tight slots. The slots are so bad that it is ridiculous and no fun. Most slots are fairly tight but this is beyond that. Stay clear of this place. You've been warned.
Despite reading the other reviews warning me to stay away, I visited Harrah's because I was in the area. The reviews of the horrible payouts were absolutely true. They're angry awful...so awful you get angry at them. I was playing a slot for $1.50, and it took an hour to get a bonus, and the bonus gave me an additional fifty cents. Granted, you expect to lose money at a casino, but sheesh, give some playing time Harrah's!
Most casinos are full of excitement and you can feel the energy when you go in. This one is sad and smoky. From the downtrodden employees to the chain smoking hanging-all-over-each-other couples, everyone looked so sad. If Disneyworld is the happiest place on earth, this place is its evil twin brother Grumpyland.
It is so sad that the fun has been taken out of playing the slots. I saw this change coming about in 2005 and it has gotten worse and worse. After watching a documentary on tv, an interview with a Casino 'big wig', he made the comment, "The elderly don't care about winning jackpots - they just want to play, so we give them enough to play." I wondered which planet he was on when he 'interviewed' the 'elderly' because the elderly that I know love winning jackpots and here's a news-flash-they are just as disgusted as everyone else is with the Casino's greed. I predicted that some casino's would be closing....if we wanted to donate, we'd donate to a good cause...
Worst casino from a slots perspective that I've ever been to. Harrahs AND the Cherokee Indians need their cut so the payback percentage is reflected in that. You will lose money at the slots so if you play em just be prepared to lose a ton of cash.