The Loosest Casino in America: Soaring Eagle Trip Report Feb 2024

 I have been hoping to write this report for nearly a year now. Last summer, I finally made the trip up to Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt Pleasant Michigan. Being one of the largest casinos in the Midwest, I always wanted to check out the place. Plus, it went along with my notion that casinos in the middle of nowhere overly depend on locals making return trips. So they cant fuck them too hard on the slots.

Last time, we stayed at the water park across the street from there. I couldn't get a reply from a host to front me a room. And the water park rooms were a third of the price as a stay in the main hotel connected to the casino. The kids loved it there, for obvious reasons. But I only got to gamble one day. But what a glorious one day it was!

Just a quick recap of that trip, Soaring Eagle is a 4 hour drive from Chicago for me. But, they have over 210,000 SQFT of gaming space. Over 4,400 slot machines. And over 70 table games. Plus another casino (I assume it was the original one) across the street, with even more games. I spent hours there gambling big on the slots. Ran through almost $25,000 of coin. AND came home a winner after all that. It was crazy, and I couldn't wait to get back.

So why did it take all this time? Did I mention the 8 hour round trip? Couple that with the fact, that even though a host reached out to me after that one day. The offers I was sent, were kinda shit. If I ran through $25K at the slots in Vegas in one day, I'd have a suite and $1,000 in free play waiting for me. Soaring Eagle? Not so much. A basic room and $150 in slot play + $50 in free food. I am assuming it was so weak, since a lot of people manage to run up their coin in if the casino truly is as fair as it seemed.

Enough back story, today's the day! And to break up the drive a bit, we stopped at Four Winds just across the Indiana Michigan border to break up the drive. 

We get to the Winds around noon, not long after their buffet opened for the day. I do OK at Four Winds. I can play some, but never come out ahead. Its an OK casino, but remote they are not. About an hour from downtown Chicago and right down the street from the very popular beach town of Michigan City Indiana. It is as close to a full blown Vegas resort we have here in Chicagoland. 

They get their share of suckers, I mean tourists I'd image. So, no need to offer the best gamble for repeat visitors. But decent enough for me to still play. It is so popular, that booking your free room has to be done weeks in advance. And even then, the Friday/Saturday nights go quickly. Hence why we aren't staying here the night before. I tried booking my room 3 weeks earlier, for a Thursday in February. Nope. 

But, my comps still work! 2 free buffets for the wife and I. Plus a $50 dining credit, which covers both kids at $18e. So free buffets all around!

The buffet itself, is nothing special. I mean, we all found something to eat. But if I had to pay the $120 it would have cost out of pocket, I'd be pissed. 

I get the four free meals plus $275 in free play. That is worth a stop over. I scarf down my food to go play some, and not completely steal from them. Leave the wife and kids to eat and fart around. And tell them to give me 45 minutes to play. If they get bored, they can walk the shops. Daddy needs to get his gambol on!

I'd like to say I converted that $275 wisely. But I did not. I was in too much of a rush. I played the wrong games, and bet too big on them, that I pissed it away in no time. I think I turned it into only $50 or so in "real" money. I fucked that up for sure. 

I did OK on the below. But all of them were in between me losing $100 or so. All in all, I did manage to play through $2 grand. But it cost me almost $500 to do so. Not what I had planned for, but it is what it is. $500 gone in under an hour. 

Back on the road, and back up through Michigan. With a potty break and Walmart stop slowing us down. We finally pull into Soaring Eagle, around 6PM at night on a Friday. 5PM Central Time for us, which we really never got used to all weekend.

Check in was slow, simply because of the long line of people waiting to get in. All in all, it took about 25 minutes. Which isn't bad, but a lifetime when you are itching to play. 

The room itself, was fine. Clean, had everything we needed. But not nearly the fancy suites my spoiled girls are used to when I drag them along for gambling vacations. 

We had a patio, which was nice if you smoked. I myself am still a dirty vapor. The entire property is smoke free. So I guess these patio units are pretty popular, if you cant smoke inside anywhere.

We bought food from Walmart to eat in the room for tonight. Which included a mini fridge and microwave. "Everyone all set"? "Good!" As I run out the door. 

The casino itself is a bit of a hike from the hotel. Worlds better than when we stayed across the street last time. But not as easy as getting off an elevator and heading in either. 

Finally! Grid is back! But did I just get lucky the last time? Or is this really the casino I have been searching for? 

As I got older, I realized all I really want to do is play. A nice casino is great. As is a fun town, like Atlantic City or Vegas. But that is just collateral to gambling. I like playing, and being able to do so as long as I want. Without the regret of how much money I may be losing. Good eats and fancy suites are awesome. But I want that adrenaline high that comes from risking my hard earned money on something. The thrill of the chase! I don't have to win to be happy. But for Fucks Sake, I want some bang for my gambling buck!

Crowds are still light, being just shy of 7PM. I assume most locals get home from work, eat dinner and then head over.

I load up my $150 + $20 "gold level bonus" free play on the below. And almost immediately hit a Minor progressive of $160. This is the first time I have seen these new Ainsworth machines. But I loved em!

Slide over to the next one, and get a $102 line hit. If I won $102 playing $10 a spin, if I bet more I'd have won more. So I bumped up my bet to $20, and got a line hit of $150! 20 minutes in, and I already almost got my Four Winds losses back!

I played around on that ticket for awhile, and dumped over half of it playing some other stuff. The assortment of slots here is truly top notch! It is too easy for me to get carried away. I was down to $164 from that $404 TITO above, when I landed a line hit for $108. Moved over to this .25 denom Leopard Claw game at $11.25 a spin, and bonused for $193.50. And now i have $450!

Lucky, maybe? But it feels just as fair as when I left her last year. I got skunked on these two and dropped a hundred bucks into them...

Before inching my way back up on Phantom of the Opera here, which I cashed out with exactly $450, and back to my high point. But sat too long on Top Dollar, and a weak $60 bonus that didn't get me my money back on. Hey, I said gambling here was fair. I didn't claim it was a charity! 

Then the wheels fell off the cart some. I lost that $370 TITO in the high limit room, playing Money Mad Martians at $5 denom. That $15 per spin went fast! Then dropped another $200 chasing those losses. I went from up $450 here, to down $200 (and $700 for the trip). It happens. The last trip I couldn't lose in High Limit. This time, not so much. 

I did manage a $304 line hit on Cleo. And invested that into Wheel of Fortune, for a $122 win. But I was getting tired by now. The long drive in took its toll on an old man in his mid 40's like me. 

A few Hail Mary's on The Enforcer at $10 a spin, and I managed a couple hundred dollars wins. But still ended the night down $500 here and the $500 at Four Winds. Still, that was a lot of play IMO. At least here any way...

I get back to the room around 10PM, to find my motely crew watching TV and eating candy. Hey, it's their vacation as well. Even if they are just lazy moochers. 

The Eagle is pretty straight forward for players points. Sadly, it is on par with Caesars. They just spin it differently. $1 of coin in on the slots, gets you 2 points. But you need to convert 1,000 points to get $1.00 in slot play. So, $500 played through gets you $1.00 in point play. CET is 1 point per $5.00 of coin. The same $500 played through, gets you $1.00 in point play. Same shit sandwich, different math.

I reached the Gold Level last trip on the one day I played. And its still good now. 14,772 points would be $7,386 coin in tonight. Which is OK for me, as I only played a few hours. 10% hold (like most casinos are) should have been a loss of $738. Baring variance, which could push the needle way up or down. My $500 loss would put this place at about 6% hold. Or, 94% return. Science it is not. But that is a fair outcome for any casino. 

I couldn't sleep at all. I was too excited to go play some more! I wake up at 6AM, like I do every day for work. And head straight down while everyone else is sleeping. At 7AM local time, the place was mostly deserted. Which is great, as it got packed last night starting around 8PM.

I discover an entire bank of early 2000's IGT games! And I chose Fishing Bob as my first slot of the day. Bob here is just a reskin of Larry of the Lobster II. I was a couple fish away on the 5th reel for a handpay! But still, a $450 line hit and I won back nearly all my losses from here within 5 minutes of playing!

I am not going to bitch about the no smoking thing. As most casinos around the Midwest have the same policies in place by now. So, I go outside into the cold alone to suck down some vaping poison to get my juices going. As you can see, I was pretty much all alone as the sun was starting to rise. 

I dropped a couple hundred of my "Bob" winnings farting around. And went over to this bank of older WMS slots. I manage a $126 win on Open the Vault. Which was needed, as most all of my winnings were gone by now. And moved over to Pyramid of the Kings for a $641 bonus game win! Back on top! 

Between Bob and Kings here, that is $1,100 in wins alone! And I am just getting started!

I played that down to $600, and cashed it out. Starting with a fresh $100, I played in their Everi section. They had a lot of older titles there too, that have mostly been pulled from the casino floors by now. 

Save the Princess was kinda shit. I picked like a champ in the bonus, but it was still only a $99 win. Octopus was a little better. $150 bonus. Everi, like Ainsworth, has a pretty solid math model for most of their games. Steady wins, nothing crazy. And no massive progressives to steal payback to feed.

More from the same bank, and my $100 buy in, which I got to $197. Then I pushed it up to $283. Was now $565 after I kept winning on this Fu Xuan game. And I doubled that TITO a few spins later!

After picking like a Boss, I landed a $731 bonus! After cashing out a $600 TITO less than an hour ago. I'm about to cash out a $1200 one! That is $1800 from the sky! I love Soaring Eagle!

One last play on an Everi, and I picked the shit out of this bonus too. Sure, it was only $120. But I cleared 3 of the 4 prizes, and pretty much doubled up that buy in.

I get the dreaded text, that they are up and hungry. Why does it always come in the middle of a heater? Still, after eating a Walmart Hot Pocket for dinner last night. I am a bit hungry too. Plus winning almost $2 Grand has me all hopped up as it is. Just for accounting, I am now up about $1,000 for the trip. The Four Winds losses erased, as are the looses here last night. 

I have my $50 dining credit to burn. And their credits are set up correctly. Some casinos, you have to burn it all at once. The Eagle isn't afraid of doing a little math, and they let you spend it some at a time until its gone. Breakfast sandwiches and chips at Central Deli, and we drop $25 from the credit. Solid value, as some resorts bend you over a barrel with high priced food. I am looking at you Biloxi and Vegas!

We kill some time at the gift shop, waiting for the Kids Quest to open at 11AM so we can dump the chumps. People are starting to pack into the casino, and the line for Kids Quest is already swelling up. 

My kids did the Quest last time, and loved it. Its a great value too. They can do all the games (not in the arcade), crafts and play on all the playsets for just $12.50e per hour. Shit, that is just one spin at a slot for me! A good value all around. Not just for a couple hours alone with the wife. But the Water Park we did last time, was $44 a person plus tax if you aren't staying there! For my wife to take them for a couple hours, would have been $150 for the 3 of them. And $150 was what we spent on a room there last time, which included the Water Park for all 4 of us for free. 

I take my wife right over to the IGT row I found, and tell her the $450 Fishing Bob story. This time I played it, I got a bonus for $270. Which I pissed away shortly after, before landing a $137 win on Green Machine.

I am still holding my own. Meanwhile, she has doubled up already. Its the same for both of us. Loose a little on a game or two. Then make it right back up. If only gambling was this easy everywhere!

Outside of the above $145 and $120 wins. I was on the losing end of the first hour we gambled together. I was down about $500 this session. Just the ebbs and flows of gambling about $10 a spin. It is something you just learn to stomach over time. 

I hit up the IT slots I won a handpay on last trip. And was down to just $2.00 left after this $10 spin. But I landed a $102 hit, and was up $4 from that hundo. Then another $175 hit, and I was up $169. Then a $183 hit, and I was up $213. Then a $577 bonus game, that should have been so much more! And that put me up $715. 

I was going to cash out, and restuff my wallet. But we checked all of the different denoms and bet levels on Power Push behind us, to see if anything seemed close to bonusing.

I will be clear on this, as there is a lot of bad information out there on these types of games. Be it piggies getting fat as you play, bowls filling with coins, scales filling up with jewels or whatever bullshit these slot makers do to make you think a bonus is about to happen. It is mostly smoke and mirrors. 

All of the above is just a way for you to think the bonus is closer to happening. When in reality, it is just a visual representation of time between bonuses. Some, like pigs getting fatter, often come with a slight advantage play. Like the progressives getting higher with each coin that feeds a pig. Or the bonus games adding more free spins or such. 

Like the below, more towers of coins mean a higher bonus value when it does hit. Simply because more coins will fall into the tray if you get it. Just because you see 4 full towers of coins, doesn't mean the bonus is close. It could still add another 8 towers before it HAS to hit. That bonus could trigger with just one coin VS 100. Seeing more coins, just means more time has passed since the last bonus game was played. 

Public Service announcement over, this one had both a lot of coin towers and prize balls on the edge. And as luck would have it, I got the bonus fast and for $290! Now I have a TITO worth $1056!

I was going to cash it out, but decided to play it down to an even $1,000. Which I did, then thought "Just one more $20 spin, so I can have some $20's in my wallet, for the arcade. That spin landed me a $300 line hit. And I immediately cashed out my $1,281 ticket!

One last game, before we check in on the kids. I was 4 spins into Plinko, when I landed the bonus for $204. God, I love it when a plan comes together!

After being at Kids Quest for a couple hours, we ask them if they are done. They pleaded for just one more hour in there. And with me being up. And the wife being almost exactly even, after 2 hours of straight gambling mind you. We said "Sure, if that's what you want" Tee Hee...

Last time I went to the Slot Palace across the street alone. And with the wife liking the older games too, as we both started going to Vegas in the early 2000's. I knew she would love that shit hole, just as much as I did!

They run a shuttle between all of their resorts, with stops at the main casino and the Palace. But we only have one hour left on the No Kids Clock, so we jumped in the car for the 3 minute drive.

The below Bitz and Pizzas was in my last trip report here. Sadly, she was broken then. I had hoped it would still be there, and working, this go round. And it was! I thought I had played all of the late 90's IGT/Barcrest Top Box games. Nope! You can still find Top Dollar from that series, in most every casino. Ditto Pinball. Some still have a Phoenix Gold, or King of Cash. But Bitz and Pizzas? Nope!

I went home after discovering it last summer, to find a video of how it worked online. No chance. People didn't have cellphones with video in a casino 25 years ago. I was so curious!

I dropped $100 into it, playing at $3.00 per spin. No bonus. $100 number 2, and I was down another $75 in it. Fuck it, I have thousands now. I am going to play this God Damn machine, until I get that fucking bonus! And I got it! And it was super stupid! 

It works like most of the others, mainly Top Dollar. It will randomly select pepperonis for credit prizes. Then, you can pick to keep your prize, or press you luck. I pressed my luck. It added 2 more toppings, so more credit prizes. But it could have taken toppings away, and reduced the money you'd win. Its all chance. I pressed again, as I was only at like $35 by now. Then, it switched my credit prizes, taking a lower one and giving me a higher one. Still, it was only $50 or so. I did my final try, and it took away all of my toppings. And I though I got fucked for no win. But then gave me $104 worth as my final offer.

Long story short, I won $104 in the bonus. But spent $175 to get it. It was all very confusing, and not very fun. Money Mad Martians was another not so great bonus. Just $70. Which at least brought me up to -$51 at the Palace. 

But I got all the way fixed, as I hit a $162 bonus on Shrimp Mania right after! And then a $220 bonus on Action Dragons, and instead of being down -$175. I was up $214! Have I mentioned how fair this place is? I had to have said exactly that to my wife about 20 times by now. "It just feels fair here".

But being the dumb gambler I am, and with time ticking down on the Kids Clock. I started pushing my chips all in here.

I was playing Beavers for $10 a spin, and finally landed the bonus. But it was complete shit! And only worth $130. Then I found this Bob Ross knock off called Easel Money. And made it my last stand here. 

I put my $232 TITO in it, and while I managed a $121 line hit, my $11.25 bets just couldn't keep up, and I lost my money. -$200 for the Slot Palace. And the wife, I am sure by design, was even once more. I think she just stops gambling when that happens. I wouldn't know. I don't have self control. 

We get back to the main casino, and I drop her off to go fight for a parking spot. Its now midday, and the place is hopping. Sure, I was supposed to meet her at Kids Quest. But I must have walked in the wrong door, and figured just a couple spins on this slot machine. Then I'd head over. 

I was $96 into it, when I landed a $140 hit. I cashed out and jetted for the arcade. No harm, no foul! Instead of $96 lost, it was $44 found.

The girls each got $20 to play with, which was complementary thanks to my sneaky win above. The arcade is newer. Not a ton of games, but enough to excite them I guess. 

We break for lunch, and everyone piles into the same deli as this morning. It was fine, cheap and right next door to Kids Quest. The way I figure things is, for every minute I am not gambling, I am losing money!

The older kid and I order deli food. A polish sausage was like $4. Nachos $3.50. Bags of chips $1.50 ETC. I bought enough random stuff to use the $25 left in credit. The wife headed back into the casino, to get sandwiches from this place called Ike's. My youngest has a wheat allergy, and Ike's has Gluten Free bread. So Mom made the trip to fetch them food.

After 30mins go by, I texted her to see what was going on. Ike's, as it turns out. Was a complete cluster fuck. They made her GF sandwich on a regular bun. Had to do it over. There was a line of people bitching that they got the wrong sandwiches, or the toppings were wrong/missing.  And to make things worse. Both of them said their sandwiches were completely shit! It just tasted bland. Everything was bad. The taste of the bun, the quality of the dried out meats the waxy cheese etc. Who fucks up a sandwich this badly? Apparently Ike's I guess. 

Any how, they head back to the room and me back to the casino. And I go on a losing streak. Mostly my fault! My bigger bets weren't landing me much of anything. I dropped $300 into Fishing Bob, without any notable wins. And with the casino now packed with eager gamblers, the games I wanted to play were booked.

I lost at least $700, before seeing some of their IGT Poker Games had slots on them as well. I played Texas Tea for $7.50 a spin and got a $106 line hit. But as typical of these poker machines with slots, I was being rated as if I was playing video poker. And here, that means $2 coin in = 1 point. VS $1 on a slot = 2 points. So a rip off to say the least. Gamble twice as much, to get half as much. I aint no sucker. 

And just like that, Bang! $706 win on Fire Link, and I got back what I lost! This place is amazing! 

I was going to cash that out, but took one more stab at the bonus on the below. I didn't bonus, but I got a $100 line hit. And then cashed out!

By now I am up like $2,500 on the trip. Which is $3,000 here and my 4W money back. And I got ballsey again with big bets, that didn't land. I lost a grand of that, before gaining some of it back on the below. 

But then went on a losing streak, losing that TITO as well. I still blame myself, as a combo of me being up + the last day of the trip + knowing how hard it will be to get back here again, being so far from home. I just couldn't get on "my games" with all the gamblers here now. And I hate a crowded casino. So now I am playing games I just don't like, since they are in spaces with fewer people.

Its lose, win some back then lose some more for the next hour or so. Still, I managed a good 3 hours or so of playing. But it ended up costing me at least half of my "up" money.

Some decent wins below to show for it. But nothing big enough to get it all back. 

I head back to the room, to slow my roll some. And watch some TV with the gang, while we decide what we want for dinner. 

The Deli is out, we pumped that well dry. Ruth Chris is too fancy. All of the other places to eat, outside a small Cafe, are on the casino floor. So we cant bring the kids in. The wife volunteers to Door Dash for us.

The Food Hall has a Guy Fieri place called Chicken Guy. Some Pizza place. A weird cross over Burrito place, with stuff like Chinese burritos or Philly Cheese Steak burritos. And that shit Sandwich place called Ike's. So that is off the table. 

If anyone is curious, here are the menus

 The Weird Burrito place wins out, and I get nacho cheese curly fries. Which were good, just not very cheesy. The wife texts that the Food Hall is jam packed. With lines out the door for everything, except Ike's! I guess the locals know whats up, and avoid that place! The Ike's workers were actually helping out the overcrowded eatiers next to them. At least they stayed busy. 

We finish eating, and as the sun starts to set, I drop the three of them off at the pool. They got in for like 30 minutes Friday night, before being shooed out for Adults only swim at 9PM. This time we make sure they can at least get a few hour in if they wanted.

I pat them on their heads, and go back to the only place I want to be at that moment. 

As you can see, to the left of me its packed with players. But my row of older IGT games, not a soul! I should have followed the crowds, as I lost a few hundred over here. 

I then sat and gridned some play betting $10 - $20 on Open the Vault. Plenty of $100 and $200 wins, when you play that much. And while I got some action, I never did get the bonus. After this, I lost a bit more. But managed another couple hours of playing. 

I gave myself the money I was up with, which was down thanks to the last session. Plus the money I got back from my 4W loss to start the trip. And if I just walked out of Soaring Eagle even, after 2 days of solid play, I'd consider that a win! 

Sadly, I got to that point. I just ran bad this last half. And was dead even for here, as far as my bankroll goes. Still, I gave it a shot! No regrets. As crazy as it sounds, I would have regretted going home up a grand. Knowing I still had both money and time left to gamble, and was too chicken shit to chase a bigger pay day.

I had like $50 in point play on my card, which is all $25,000 played through got me. And I ran it through the very first game I played this trip, as a bit of poetic justice. $10 a spin, just like then. I had enough for 5 spins. Spin #1, nothing. Spin #2, $40. Spin #3 $38.50. Spin #4, nothing. And Spin #5 nothing.

I had the $100 bill I put in to use the point play. And $78.50 in my converted money. I sat there for a second, and said to myself. Self, is it that big of a deal to go home even? Just run it through, since the line to cash out are at least 6 people deep at every machine. Don't be a pussy. 

Fuck it! Spin #6, bonus! You pick 3 chariots (I think) for a multiplier. I picked 4 X, so each spin would be as if I was betting $40. It didn't show the other 2, but I assume it was 2 X or 3 X. I got 10 free games, and a few retriggers later, $860! 

Now I have a TITO worth over a grand! Soaring Eagle! Soaring Eagle! Soaring Eagle!

Back at it, I'll play this out. It must be a sign! 

Back to the Medusa, that I won over $500 on earlier. And get the biggest shit bonus possible, for only $198. Not a single Medusa connected in 8 games. Unheard of! I was into it for $300. So a $100 loss there. 

Into the High Limit room, which had been cruel to me all trip. And I piss away hundreds here and there, betting like a whale. I figured I was on a streak, but I was clearly wrong. I did get a $125 line hit on In the Money below. But sadly, that was the best I could muster. That $1K didn't go as far as I hoped. But man, was it ever fun!

Needless to say I shit away that ticket. And without realizing it, lost the $100 bill I used to start the free play. So I am down here -$100 for the trip. Plus the -$500 Four Winds debacle. 

I check my points, and I earned 54,770 tier credits. That is $27,385 of coin in. Friday night, was $7,386. So I did almost exactly $20,000 today. Now that is some play through! 

Last year, you could argue I got lucky. I did have the small handpay. But managed $25,000 coin in playing big, and left a winner. This time $27,385 of coin in, netted a $100 loss. Big shit! I assume I ran lucky again, for the most part. But with 3 different days of playing, and at least 20 hours logged on the slots. That is a very fair casino.

And while I have played in casinos coast to coast. From Reno to Atlantic City. And a dozen states in between. I will say, this is the Loosest Casino I have ever been in! And that is now official! Vegas is much more glamours. AC is much more family driven for our vacations. Biloxi is much more laid back. Reno is much more retro. But when it all comes down to pure gaming. Soaring Eagle for the win!

And if anyone was curious what their players club looks like. Here it is...

And one small revision to add. Before we headed home that Sunday, I did sneak back into the casino to try one last hundo without my players card. I obviously didn't want to log a day, and fuck up my averages. I lost that hundo on Top Dollar, and pealed off one more. I got that up to $134 on the below. But pissed that away as well. So I actually lost $300 on this trip.

The Gambol is a fickle mistress. Yes, for sure, I ran hot and held my own. But if you only have a few bucks, or are without the bankroll to survive the ups and downs. I doubt you'd be as lucky as me. Even in a place like this. As variance can be a bitch! But none of that changes anything. In my opinion, this is the best place to play slots.