When we go to Cherokee, we play the penny and quarter slots and it usually costs about $100 per hour unless you happen to get struck by lightning and win a jackpot. I guess the management needs the money to finish building the huge addition which will open soon. Almost all other casinos keep drawing til there is a winner. The ticket drawings there are usually not guaranteed win drawings, so if the winning ticket holder is not in the casino, the casino doesn't draw another ticket they just don't pay out for that draw. so they have plenty of gamblers to draw from. Basically, this casino has a monopoly and draws from the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, etc. My wife and I are both Diamond players and it is still tough to get a room when you want to. Cherokee will not state what their payouts are, only that the state minimum in North Carolina is around 80%. Other casinos advertise payouts, many above 95%. The electronic card tables don't play like real cards and there is no variety in the card games. The machines often won't accept money and it takes forever to get a technician for fixing the slot or hand paying. The payouts are horrible on the slots, especially the penny slots. The buffet is not very big and the food isn't very good. We have stopped going to Cherokee because it has become the worst casino of all. We used to go to Cherokee often until this last summer. We travel all over the US and go to other Harrah's properties as well.
