Westspiel casinos, Germany.

[newb99]

Have just returned from another jaunt to Germany. Spent a short time with my missus in one of the Westspiel chain of casinos in the north of the country. Generally not worth the visit - even making allowances for it being midweek: Empty with no atmosphere (staff to player ratio of about 1:2 when we were there) high mins bearing in mind it wasn't exactly the Ritz (2 EURO on roulette and 1 EURO even for the electronic slot roulette - the equivalent in the UK is just £0.10!) all CSMs on the BJ tables where the table min was EURO 5.00 and some very iffy pay tables on the VP machines.

Against my better judgement I let my wife talk me into playing some BJ - BS at table mins - and although the place had been open for three hours, the duty manager had to be summoned for the key to unlock the chip-tray. Got the distinct impression nobody goes there to play BJ (another guy joined me for a few hands, and we were the only players who played for the hour or so we were there - in contrast to London where you'll be hard pushed to find a place at a BJ table after 7.30pm in the evening). No doubt welcome for the young lady being paid to sit at the table and look pretty.

Although I travel to Germany several times a year I'm not going to bother writing in trips to the casino on the itinery in the future, as frankly what's on offer across the country is no better than you can find playing online. The casino at Baden-Baden will remain the exception though.

For casino action Deutschland is most definitely not "uber alles" !!!

[FLASH1296]

Now we all want to hear what it is that makes the casino at Baden-Baden different.

[newb99]

If you ever visit that part of Germany a visit to the casino at Baden-Baden is a must if you're a casino rat. The games are pretty run of the mill and the BJ is definitely something to avoid if you're an AP. But it's probably the nearest you'll get to the Monte Carlo experience without the silly Monte Carlo pricetags. I enjoyed my time there although I didn't play much. Here are a few lines I wrote about it.

If you ever visit Europe, put it on the itinery and judge for yourself (but do leave your AP's hat at home).