High Limit Card Room at Morongo

[alpax]

As Alan mentioned on the previous Morongo visit, there is a High Limit Card Room that took over the bingo hall recently. I went during a soft opening on October 11, did not win the Sunday drawings Morongo is famous for.

Note: The grand opening took place on October 22nd, there were famous actors and actresses from Hong Kong as well as some retired NFL players.

There are 8 widely spaced in between tables.

4 of them are Blackjack
4 of them are Baccarat

The table minimums have not been finalized but it was set at $100 for all their games. There were many empty seats, no surprise. I was talking to one of the dealers, and she was telling me about all the comps that will come from playing at least 1 hour in the room.

There are plasma flat screens mounted around the wall. Some have couches for people to relax and see the game on.

There is a private one person use bathroom, one for males and the other for females. It was closed for cleaning so I did not take a picture inside (next time I will Alan since you have interest in it).

There is a full service bar with a bar tender present. Aside from alcohol, they have a high quality tea (using the best Teavana leaves) bar. Its definitely better than the tea you get at Coffee Bean, Starbucks, McDonalds, or 7-Eleven.

There is a private chip cashier window. The high limit room is right outside of the main cashier booth

I personally think this idea is overkill and totally unnecessary, but I know Morongo does their research to feel this is worth their effort. I always saw Morongo to be a low roller place, Pechanga/Barona/Viejas are much better for high rollers. This high limit room is continuing to change the image of Morongo.

Morongo in general is prospering to a point where it makes it haters I know feel jealous.

I was not allowed to take pictures, but these are the best ones I got without being spotted.

[Alan Mendelson]

Thanks for the look inside. Is there anyone at the door to "screen" those who walk in? Any refreshments around? Is the private restroom available to any member of the public?

[alpax]

I will find out some more details if I go again in 2 or 3 weeks.

There is no security guard to screen, anyone can walk in the room but I do not think many can afford to play at those stakes.

The table maximum is now raised to $5000. Morongo's limit on Blackjack was at $2000/$3000 before this high limit room. I believe Barona has been allowing a maximum bet of $10,000 for their blackjack for a while.

Refreshments provided are the standard soda, juice, alcohol (cannot be comped because of state laws), and now a high quality tea bar.

The high quality tea is not comped for people that are not playing, it costs $7.88 for a pot.

There is also a dim sum (Chinese finger food) menu as a snack for people playing. Also nuts and raisins are available too.

Anyone should be able to go inside the restroom. People will be too intimidated by the "High Limit" sign to even bother entering.

Its nice, quiet, and peaceful inside. There is a separate WiFi inside the room where its connection quality is strong. I still think its overkill for a casino that is catered towards low budget gamblers.

Morongo has whales now, now its darn near impossible to get a hotel room on Friday/Saturday nights without play $10+ per pull on slots or bet $50+ on Paigow/Bacarrat/Blackjack for several hours.

[Alan Mendelson]

Wow. Tell us more about hotel rooms and occupancy rates, prices and the new whales? Morongo advertises so much it sounds like they're hurting to fill the hotel.

[alpax]

I suppose hotel rooms are widely available from Sunday through Thursday nights (except for holidays falling in between). If a holiday falls on a Monday, the luxury car giveaway drawings will be held on that day instead of the Sunday, so people book rooms from Friday through Monday. There is one hotel tower that has 272 one king or two queen bed rooms, and 32 suites. The rooms are big enough about ~400 square feet to sleep, watch TV, and eat at a table without feeling miserable. Pretty much all you do at Morongo is to gamble, go bowling, or go shopping; hence the regular's expectations for the hotel rooms is not high.

The normal cost of the room is $119, on Thursday it is $139. Black tier Reward Card holders get free upgrade to a Suite on those days.

As for the advertising, Morongo advertises on radio the Top 5 Reasons to go to Morongo in a few different languages. Their main competition is San Manuel, and they have to do more to attract people to travel 20 miles more to come to Morongo instead of settling somewhere close.

As for the new whales, if you walk in the High Limit Slot room (not as nice as the Card room) on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday. At least 2/3 of the $1 video slots are taken up as well as the $5/$10/$25 reel slots. They play anywhere from $10-$50 a pull, and easily rack up at least 25,000 points (or $25,000 coin). The high limit table games is geared towards the affluent folks from San Gabriel Valley who strongly believe in a predictive system in Bacarrat and bet $1000+ per round. Yes there are stories of regulars being in devastating financial situations.

When I played weekly from 2008 to 2012, I've played anywhere from 6000 to 9000 points (or dollar coin in) of slots (3 line $1 games). I could ask for a room the very same weekend without reservation. Even this equates to $1000-$2000 loss per month. Now the whales made me irrelevant to the casino, I do not have the commodity and chances are the hotel will be entirely booked for those whales. Plus I could not afford to already lose at that rate.

For those wanting to pay full cash for a room, it could either be $219/$249/$279/$319 depending if it is nearing a holiday or if an entertainment event is going on. It has to be done well in advance or else it will be sold out to the whales.

[Alan Mendelson]

So... about 300 rooms and "whales" get them all on the weekends?

Actually 300 rooms is not many at all for a "destination hotel" so close to the outlet mall and Palm Springs just a half hour away, so it doesn't surprise me they'd be sold out every weekend even without whales. 300 rooms is not that many. I'm surprised they only have 300... I thought they'd have many more rooms from the size of the hotel building.

You mentioned 25,000 points or $25,000 coin. What does that get you as far as comps or gifts or free play from Morongo?

And I didn't know they have bowling there. How many alleys and is it open limited hours or around the clock? I love bowling at 3 in the morning.

[alpax]

So... about 300 rooms and "whales" get them all on the weekends?

Actually 300 rooms is not many at all for a "destination hotel" so close to the outlet mall and Palm Springs just a half hour away, so it doesn't surprise me they'd be sold out every weekend even without whales. 300 rooms is not that many. I'm surprised they only have 300... I thought they'd have many more rooms from the size of the hotel building.

I also agree that the 300 rooms is not enough for a resort nearby the Palm Springs region, but the rooms and the quality of life is better than the few resorts I been to. The tower looks tall but looks are deceiving since it is very narrowly spaced. There is just one hallway per floor so you cannot get lost in a maze like those Vegas casino hotels.

A whale can bring in much more revenue to the casino based on theoretical losses from their play than a person who pays for a night at the hotel and plays very little. They put a priority on those when it comes to hotel allocations. Saturdays are by far the busiest and its always sold out, even if there are heavy players wanting a place to rest for a night.

Morongo, Pechanga, San Manuel, and Agua Caliente are granted rights to expand in return for greater revenue towards the state coming in the form of additional slot machines as part of the bipartisan agreements from the California Propositions 94-97 being passed in 2008. Those places have more than 2500 slot machines, which is far and away more than most Vegas casinos. They have rights to operate 7500 slot machines now. Each slot machine can potentially generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits. Pechanga is under construction for another hotel expansion with two new restaurants and a much bigger swimming pool areas, but the gaming space will not be increased.

You mentioned 25,000 points or $25,000 coin. What does that get you as far as comps or gifts or free play from Morongo?

The whales probably do that two or three times a month. That kind of play will require a household income of over $100,000 annual to be able to play at those levels. It is DIAD for CET for those playing slots.

The comps/free play is not based on ADT that you are accustomed to by MGM and Caesars. It is rated on a curve based on play.

I do not know if the top tier mailer is $100 free play or table game match play per week with $75 food credits (once a month), and the Suite any day of the week upon availability.

I play 2500-3000 points ($5000 coin in on VP, and maybe a few rounds of Three Card Poker) when I go, I get $25 free play a week and $25 food credits (once a month).

I forgot to mention, even if I still played 6000-9000 points a week, I'd would not be in the curve that includes free hotel stays during the weekends, maybe only for weekdays.

And I didn't know they have bowling there. How many alleys and is it open limited hours or around the clock? I love bowling at 3 in the morning.

It runs during limited hours. The Monday special is the best where games are $1 from 4pm to 9pm.

Monday 8:30AM - 9PM
Tuesday 8:30AM - 10PM
Wednesday 8:30AM - 9PM
Thursday Noon - 9PM
Friday Noon – Midnight
Saturday Noon - 12:30AM
Sunday Noon - 9PM

It is more family oriented there, if an adult plays, one of their children can play for free.

I played at Morongo again this past weekend and I checked out the high limit room. I went in the single person use restrooms. There are a few relaxation couches set up.

The table limit is finalized at $100 minimums. I noticed the squeezed in a few more tables in. I saw 2 tables full for both blackjack and baccarat. This was on a Sunday night, but Saturday nights are the highest demaand.