This is the fourth visit this year and stayed in hotel all times. Hotel is excellent and service is great. The problem is that I have noticed the slots are getting tighter and tighter on each visit. That wasn't the case last year, in fact they seemed to have an above average return. Just got back after visiting three Oregon casinos this week and in comparison have made a decision not to visit Lucky Eagle again for the near future. They need to practice a little less greed and a more competitive attitude with other casinos in the area. Don't waste your gaming funds at Lucky Eagle.

This week I tried a little experiment. I decided to compare the entertainment value of playing slots at the Lucky Eagle with getting a root canal.

First, the root canal. Beautiful office, friendly staff, cool 80's music, free drinks, dentist just back from surfing in Maui, and quick, relatively painless drilling and filling. The bill was about 1,500 bucks, of which my insurance covers 1200 and the rest is a tax write off. And today, my teeth are feeling better.

Now to the slot play at the Lucky Eagle. In an attempt to avoid the "sucker" times at "the loosest casino in the Northwest", I played on a Monday afternoon--no extra comps, no buses, and a Senior/locals day. Second Monday of the month. Timing is everything in a tribal casino, right?

I walked into the Lucky Casino about 1 PM. Beautiful facility, friendly staff, cool 80's music, free drinks, tribal members STILL surfing in Maui. VERY prolonged, painful drilling and filling. The bill for a full afternoon of play at 1.00 bets was about 900 bucks, of which none of my insurance covers and I get no tax write off. And today, my rear end feels TERRIBLE.

After flushing thousands of dollars down the toilet at every tribal casino in Western Washington and NEVER finding that big "jackpot"and walking out a "winner" once every nine times, I think I've found my new "addiction". Instead of driving a older car to a place where almost everyone FROWNS and complains about how much they've lost since they arrived, I'm gonna give my money to the nice dentist who tells me up front how much my visit will cost, delivers what he promises EVERY time, and makes me want to show off my new teeth by SMILING.

I do not do buffet. I always LIKED the deli until this past Sunday. I always get a 1/2 sandwich & fries. No more, you took it off the menu. I do not want soup, as that is the only way to get a 1/2 sandwich now. So I tried a burrito which should have been scrambled egg, meat,cheese,tater tots& salsa. First of all it was a fried egg not scrambled , the tater tots were inside the burrito.SOGGY!!!! I threw it away after 2 bites. Also the salsa is 95% water. Will bring my own lunch from now on.

I am primarily a Blackjack player. My Girlfriend likes slots, so I play them with her sometimes. We've had about the same luck here as we have at any of the many Casinos we've been to. slots are pure luck, some days you win some days you lose. I will say, the selection of games is a bit less here then other places in WA/OR/BC that we've been to.

We've stayed in the Hotel. It's not fancy. It's a clean, fair priced, no frills room. About on a Motel 6 level, but fine for the price. They do send coupons in the mail to people in their players club for free or reduced rooms (Usually Sunday-Thursday.) We've stayed there for free several times and for $60 a few times. not bad, really.

This place has the WORST comps of ANY CASINO in WA. I Played 6 hours at $50 a hand on Blackjack and I had a whopping $3.26 in food comp available on my card from my play! WOW! For example, had I had the same play at fairly nearby Red wind Casino, I would have earned $150-$200 in CASH BACK that I could cash out THAT DAY or use the points to pay for food (which if you use your card for food there, it's 50% off. So, if your bill is $20 for food, they only take $10 off your card... Sweet!) I complained to the pit about the comps, I've asked if its a mistake? surely a someone who's played an average hand of $50 a bet for six hours in a row should have at least enough to get a meal, right? Nope. There was no mistake.

The dealers are either rude or seem uninterested in doing their job, as a rule. There are a few fun dealers, who do a great job, just as in any Casino there are a few on staff who are poor, but in this case the good dealer is the exception, not the poor one. I complained to management once. The lady told me I could fill out a comment card, but she admitted that it wouldn't do much good because the dealers in question were Native and their Jobs were "protected." You get unpleasant dealers who don't smile, who look away. Who make no effort what so ever to try to make it a fun atmosphere. that is their job! To make it fun so we enjoy risking our money! Right?

As for the variety of table games, it's a good mix. BEST BLACKJACK GAMES IN THE STATE! They have double deck and Single BJ tables with 3/4 deep penetration. Outstanding. Sure, you can't double after split and can only double on 10 and 11 on pitch games, but they do allow surrender on BJ and no Casino in WA can beat a single deck game with 3/4 deep pen. Craps has 5x Odds which is decent (Red Wind has 10x odds though)

The food is average, slightly bland typical Bar/Casino food. I'm not a big buffet guy. I've eaten their buffet once and it was fine, not great, but not awful. Just okay. One complaint about the food is that they close EARLY. SOMETHING should be open at midnight on a Saturday night in a Casino? Right?

So, in conclusion, Service sucks. The whole attitude of the place is not customer driven. Oddly, the people in the Players Club are VERY helpful, friendly and professional. It's just the staff on the floor is VERY poor, which means the most to me because that is who I interact with the most. If you are a slot player, I'd go elsewhere, just because of the extremely poor Comps offered here (Besides the Free reduced rooms, which are only on low volume days were the rooms would likely be empty otherwise, they want you there to GAMBLE) If you can stand the rude dealers (or get lucky and get on of the few GOOD ones) the single deck game is the most beatable, most countable BJ game in the state. The PIT is CLUELESS, often too busy BSing with regular players or each other to actually spot a card counter, Trust me...I have a 60" LED TV that this game paid for sitting in my living room ;) A few of the female pit bosses do have fantastic asses tho, so that's a bonus! If there was a focus on customer service on the floor, and a few tweaks here and there, they'd have a winning formula. As it stands now, unless you are a pro-level card counter and can tolerate rude service, go elsewhere.

Lucky Eagle is a great casino - if you are a regular. However, if you are visiting occasionally, DON"T expect great service. The employees focus on the "regulars" and if they don't know you by name, you will get mediocre service, attention, and gaming at best.

My rating of the table games is based on the Craps tables, where I found the dealers more interested in chatting with each other than watching the bets. Several times, I had to remind the dealer to pay my bet - in only 2 hrs at the table. Additionally they did not show the professional conduct I would expect of craps dealers in knowing and remembering your bets. I have seen good craps dealers remember the betting styles of 8 players at the same time (table holds 16 players, 8 at each end, and a dealer for each end), and the game was going fast. They will even help with calculating odds bets, and suggest other bets that are similar style... When I was at the table at Lucky Eagle, there were no more than 6 people on the whole table at the peak, and most of the time, there were 3... yes, just 3 people playing - very slow - and they ignored me, and couldn't remember what my regular bets were.

The food is always good, and most of the food servers are very pleasant, helpful and hard working. Although, again, I saw our waitress spending a lot of time at the table of people she knew, and only gave us adequate service. Lucky for us, other servers stepped in to help us, and they were very pleasant.

My rating of the gaming atmosphere is based on the smokiness. There is really no reason for the casino to seem smoky anymore. With proper ventilation, a non-smoking player should be able to play right next to a smoking one, and not be overly bothered. I will say, it is WAY better than it used to be - but alas, it still has a ways to go.

One last comment, I was at the craps table for over 2 hrs, and never saw a waitress. I was dying of thirst and had to leave just to get a drink. There is a really helpful, self-serve soda fountain - but I would've liked a beer.