Online gaming is a lot of fun, but can it really live up to the experience you get from a live casino? You get gaming from the web, but can you get free drinks? Can you get live music, comedy shows, and the sheer showmanship and presentation of a live casino? When you play online, you don’t get the feel of freshly shampooed carpet under your feet; you don’t get the sound of slot machines filling the air.
A casino is a little like a restaurant — you’re not just paying for a chance to win, you’re also paying for the atmosphere. There’s something about stepping onto the casino floor and being treated like royalty for as long as you feel like playing. If you’re a world-class poker player, know your way around five-card stud; then you’re ready to move beyond taking your work buddies lunch money. The next step is to take it up professionally; if you don’t want to leave your laptop, then you won’t get the feel of green felt under your fingertips.
This is the feeling one gets when playing at a land based casino. Take, for instance,
Buffalo Thunder Casino at the Santa Fe Hilton.
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- Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder is the largest destination resort in New Mexico. Nestled into 587 acres of pristine high desert land, the resort is home to world-class accommodations, dining, spa, golf, convention, and gaming facilities. Buffalo Thunder is the perfect place to indulge in the pleasures, textures and glorious natural elements of the Land of Enchantment.
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- A large, cast bronze sculpture of a pueblo Buffalo Dancer welcomes every guest to the incredible Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder.
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- Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder welcomes its guests in a breathtaking atrium lobby that features floor to ceiling windows and traditional pueblo design elements. The lobby is home to registration, concierge, guest services, a lobby bar, business center and dozens of pieces of art.
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- Generously sized rooms are decorated in unique themes that showcase the Native American influences of the resort’s location. Furniture and design elements are all signature to Buffalo Thunder. In-room amenities include flat screen televisions with on-demand movies and games, safe, mini bar, coffee service, high speed Internet, voice mail, climate control, Hilton’s signature bedding and amenity package and an oversized picture window or balcony.
You can’t get a gorgeous view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from your bedroom like you will from a Hilton hotel room. You won’t get six restaurants to choose from or a choice of indoor and outdoor pools. You can play slots online, but you can choose from 1,200 slot machines, with real lever-pulling action, at the Buffalo Thunder.
Your laptop doesn’t boast the 51-story extravagance of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, with its stone elephants, crystal chandelier, full spas and shopping boutiques. And unless you’re a Fortune 500 CEO, we’re willing to bet that your living room doesn’t let you play a hand of poker right on the beach like you can at the San Juan Ritz-Carlton in Puerto Rico. The problem: Visiting live casinos isn’t as easy or as affordable as playing online.
San Juan Ritz-Carlton in Puerto Rico
You can lose a hundred bucks at a poker table online, and you’re only out your losses. Lose a hundred bucks at a table in Vegas, and you’re out plane fare, too. A casino tour is a great idea for a vacation, but hardly accessible as a daily expense for anyone but the super-wealthy.
Luckily, we’re here to keep you up to date on all the proceedings in the live casino scene to ensure that when you’ve saved up some winnings and feel like playing in person, you won’t get stuck in some lame casino with a cheap hotel room and a stale buffet. Read on, and spend your next casino trip in the lap of luxury.
