Sucking in Gambling Addicts with Comps!

Interesting how it begins!

Published: August 14, 2012

Who's gambling at Erie's casino?

The Erie Times-News has been reporting numbers on Presque Isle Downs & Casino since Cleveland's Horseshoe Casino opened in May. But who are some of the faces behind the numbers? Video by Andy Colwell, Erie Times-News

Presque Isle Downs & Casino is getting competition from Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, which opened May 14.

The Cleveland casino is cited as a factor in slumping revenue numbers for the slot machines and table games at the Erie-area casino, when compared with revenue from the same period in 2011.

Mike Tamburelli, the Erie casino's general manager, has said it will take a few months to determine the effect, as gamblers try out the new casino about 100 miles west of Erie.

Meanwhile, the Erie casino has put in new chairs for all slot machines, replaced some older slot machines, and installed a free soda and coffee dispenser, among other improvements.


Erie's casino may be turning the corner. Gamblers wagered $25 million more on the slot machines in July at Presque Isle Downs than they did at Horseshoe Casino.

Erie's payout percentage on the machines also has been higher thus far.


The Erie Times-News has been reporting the numbers from the two casinos. But who are some of the faces behind the figures at Presque Isle Downs? Here's a look.


Cleveland resident William Blue said he's visited Presque Isle Downs & Casino "maybe a hundred times.''

He's driven the 100 or so miles on all of those visits.

But on this day, Blue arrived in style.

The casino paid for a limousine and driver to pick up Blue, his poker-playing sister-in-law and two of her friends.

"I got a limo ride,'' said Blue, 66, while playing his favorite slot machine, the penny Glitz machine with its colorful graphics near the casino's north entrance.

He also arrived with $50 in free slots play from the casino.

The complimentary items, or "comps,'' are examples of how the casino is trying to win back Ohio customers who might be trying the new Horseshoe Casino Cleveland.

Blue said he's gone to the Cleveland casino five times. It's closer, he said, so he doesn't have to spend as much money on gas.


But Blue said he thinks the Erie casino will do well in the face of its newest competition.


He didn't have much luck this day, though, and cashed out with about $35 left, moving to the Eternal Gold penny machine near the casino's west entrance.


But he's had better days. Blue said he once won a $1,400 jackpot at the casino.


And win or lose, he could kick back for a comfortable ride home.


Edinboro resident Maribel Andilab clapped her hands in joy while standing with other players at the blackjack table.


"Yeah, I got 21!'' she said, doubling her $100 bet at a $15 minimum table.


At that point, Andilab was playing with house money. Andilab said she usually bets $15 per hand, but she'll bet more when she's winning.


Andilab, 27, a translator, said she takes $100 to $200 to play the tables at Presque Isle Downs on days when she's not working.

Andilab started going to the casino in July, on her birthday, and she said that she usually breaks even.


"You win, you lose,'' Andilab said.


"You just have to have a lot of fun. I love math. It keeps my brain busy,'' she said.

She also enjoys the camaraderie at the table, as well as the customer service from the hostess, the pit bosses, the dealers and the cocktail waitresses.

"All the players and dealers are awesome. Even If I lose, they always put a smile on my face,'' she said.


The casino provides her with complimentary meals and valet parking, and offers her free drinks, too. But she takes a pass on that freebie. "I don't drink or smoke. I like water. They bring me water all the time,'' she said.

On this day, Andilab said she left with $100 -- the same amount she took to the casino.


"It's a getaway. It's fun. It's entertainment,'' she said.


Greenville resident Brad Barker, his wife, Jaci, and other family members and friends took up two tables at the Downs Clubhouse and Lounge.

They settled in for an evening of dinner, drinks, thoroughbred horse racing and a few table games.


The outing was special because Jaci Barker's brother, Shawn Goehring, 25, and family friend Nick Romero, 30, were visiting from New York City.

Also checking out the racing card at the table was Phyllis DePree, 75, of Greenville -- the grandmother of Jaci Barker, 27, and Goehring. Everyone calls her "Grandma Red,'' an obvious reference to her red hair.

At the next table sat the parents of Jaci Barker and Goehring, Greg and Kelly Goehring, as well as two children of friends from their Greenville neighborhood.


While they watched the live racing, Brad Barker, 28, ordered a Reuben sandwich at the clubhouse restaurant, and his wife ordered the grilled vegetable salad.


Brad Barker said he had hoped to hit the craps tables, where he said he usually wins. "You can yell and scream, and they seem genuinely happy for you,'' he said, referring to other table games gamblers.

Brad Barker never made it to the table games, but Grandma Red managed to play some blackjack, he said.

Shawn Goehring said that horse racing allows families to take children to Presque Isle Downs. Children are permitted to watch the races, but no one under 21 is allowed on the casino floor.


"We can bring the kids to watch the races, and we can sneak to the tables as well,'' Goehring said.

Jaci Barker is more than six months pregnant. Someday, she said, they will bring their first child to the horse races, too.


"Hopefully, we'll have more than one,'' she said.

You can see them along the rail at the racetrack, on just about every one of the horse racing season's 100 nights.

Widow Connie Goodwill, 69, and her friend and neighbor, Diane Davis, 61, set their folding chairs at the finish line, study the horses and place their bets.


"Everyone knows us and says we're the most faithful ones here,'' Goodwill said.

Goodwill said it beats the alternative -- "sitting on the porch and watching the same cars go by.'' [Pretty pathetic when that's all you can think to do!]


On the evening's first race, Goodwill bet $3 and won $12.05 by boxing a trifecta, which is picking three horses to finish first, second and third in any order.

She usually boxes trifectas or perfectas (picking two horses to finish first and second in any order).


In the second race, she went against her norm and placed a $2 bet on Activist Investor to win. The horse came in third, but Davis won $3.40 on her $2 bet because she picked the horse to show.

They don't spend much or win much, but Goodwill said it's an enjoyable way to pass an evening.


"At the end of the year ... I know I'm not ahead, but it's cheap entertainment,'' she said.

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012308139917

Maribel Andilab, 27, of Edinboro, plays blackjack at Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Summit Township on Aug. 9./ANDY COLWELL/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

View photos of some of the patrons visiting Presque Isle Downs & Casino on Aug. 9: Click here.

By the numbers:

Presque Isle Downs & Casino

- $159.5 million: Slot-machine wagers in June for Presque Isle Downs & Casino, on an average of 2,066 machines.

- $159.6 million: Slots wagers in June for Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, on an average of 2,083 machines.

- 92.01 percent: Slot-machine payout rate in June at Presque Isle Downs, less promotional free plays.

- 88.4 percent: Slot-machine payout rate in June at Horseshoe Casino, less promotional free plays.

- $12.5 million: Slot-machine gross revenue in June at Presque Isle Downs (down 9.5 percent from June 2011).

- $18.5 million: Slot-machine gross revenue in June at Horseshoe Casino.

- $175.3 million: Slot-machine wagers in July for Presque Isle Downs, on an average of 2,038 machines.

- $150 million: Slot-machine wagers in July for Horseshoe Casino, on an average of 2,083 machines.

- 92.06 percent: Slot-machine payout rate in July for Presque Isle Downs, less promotional free plays.

- 89.1 percent: Slot-machine payout rate in July for Horseshoe Casino, less promotional free plays.

- $13.6 million: Slot-machine revenue in July at Presque Isle Downs (down 15.1 percent from July 2011).

- $16.3 million: Slot-machine revenue in July at Horseshoe Casino.

- $1.2 million: Gross revenue from 53 table games in June at Presque Isle Downs (down 32 percent from June 2011).

- $7.6 million: Gross revenue from 94 table games in June at Horseshoe Casino

- $7.66 million: Gross revenue from 94 table games in July at Horseshoe Casino.

Note: Pennsylvania has not yet reported table games revenue for July from its 11 casinos.

SOURCES: Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board; Ohio Casino Control Commission; Presque Isle Downs & Casino