Casino at Baden-Baden. Finally made it . . . . .
I made it to the casino in Baden a while back and spent a pleasant hour and a half or so there. This posted for the benefit of anyone visiting Germany who is considering a visit . . .
The casino at Baden-Baden is the one that was the inspiration for Dostoyevsky's novel "The Gamber" (he himself acknowledging he had become addicted) and the one described by Marlene Dietrich as the most beautiful casino in the world. It's been relieving the idle rich of their money for around 250 years, although nowdays it's quite happy to relieve anyone of their's who is prepared to make an effort in dressing up (strictly enforced dress code - shirt, jacket and tie at the tables) and paying the entry fee (EURO 3.00) for the priviledge of entering the table games parlours.
Well, it is - very beautiful in it's baroque splendour and finish, although quite snooty with all of the casino table and floor staff sporting black tie. Both of the main roulette tables (with huge old wheels) are staff by three croupiers and an umpire, and believe it or not they still move all of the chips around with rakes - which was quaint but everything seemed so sloooowwwwww . . . There are four other smaller roulette tables in a bank with lower table mins of just EURO 2.00 I think. Didn't seem to be any nonsense about no table mins on evens and 2-1 wagers.
Blackjack? A great shame. In this fantastic historical facade there wasn't a polished mahogany shoe which would have been in keeping, but the ubiquitous electronic-plastic one-2-six shufflemaster (which looked completely out of place). Table min was EURO 10.00, and unlike the UK insurance could be taken on a dealer ace. The Blackjack pit was very crowded, with only a minimal chance of grabbing a seat at a table later in the evening. I played flat bet table mins for ten minutes or so earlier on and walked away when slightly up. Lot's of back betting going on and players back-betting each other's doubling opportunities, which I was told was quite common practice there. Some addicted regulars there at the time throwing some serious money across the felt despite it being a crappy game.
I think there was also a three-card poker table there but it wasn't open. Didn't see the bacarrat table at all, and I wonder whether they have binned it for low usage (although the EURO 50.00 minimum would probably have contributed to this). All of the poker tables were packed, with a queue of punters waiting for the opportunity to grab a free seat. As it was Saturday night there was also a poker tournament underway with over 100 participants.
The casino has a smokers lounge within it - don't know how they got an exemption for that, as throughout Germany (as in most parts of Europe now) smoking within enclosed public spaces is banned. There's also a restaurant and a bar, neither of which are outrageous in price, and it's possible to spend the whole evening there people watching rather than playing. A selection of blondes at the bar alone with the usual "I'm gorgeous but poor, please come and chat me up" air about them. I've no doubt one or two of them sported a price tag.
Worth it? Depends on what you're looking for. As an experience of something up market along the Monte Carlo line, definitely - for EURO 3.00 you can be part of it and soak it all up, and there's no pressure to gamble a penny. In actual fact, later in the evening you'll be hard pressed to get the opportunity to do so. For BJ as a playable game that can be exploited, of course not, waste of time. If you're a poker player looking to play at higher stakes it's probably as good as anywhere else, with the usual mix of good and not so good players. No idea what the rake is.
A quick search of the web will bring up the casino's website, with full details of what's on offer.
A note of caution if you plan to arrive at Baden-Baden by train, note that the main railway station (Hbf) is over 6KM outside of town (and not really in Baden-Baden at all). My friend and I discovered this after having walked around 2.5Km in the general direction of the Stadtmitte and stopping off for coffee somewhere. The buses do run frequently thank God!
Tschus !
PS - nobody I spoke to knew what a card shoe was? Can anyone translate this for me? "Spielenkarteshuh" ??