The next morning was rough. It started at the JW Marriot in downtown Washington, DC.
We took an Uber back to the MGM National Harbor parking deck to get our car. We left it there after a late night at MGM National Harbor with a friend that lives in the area. It slowed us down for the trip and ultimately made us miss much of Indiana. Even with the loss, it was worth it to catch up with an old friend and have some fun. There had been little social time on the trip up to this point.
Hollywood Casino, Charles Town, WV
The first and only stop this day was at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. This casino once had a geographical monopoly for the region. These days, it still draws players, just not on the same level it did before Maryland and Pennsylvania opened casinos.
The design of the property was interesting. It has multiple themes within it. The poker room had recently reopened before our visit. It is still the only one operating in West Virginia. The other three West Virginia casinos we visited had packed up its poker rooms.
There was not much going on this Monday morning. Most of the table games and the entire poker room were closed. The poker room was dark on Mondays and Tuesdays.
The video poker selection was slim. I played $1 7/5 Bonus Poker and lost $20. The game has auto hold on it. That is the highest denomination for video poker that I found in the casino.
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races has several pits with the usual game selection. Live roulette at the stadium seating starts at $5. I tried to put my slot ticket in it like a normal stadium game. West Virginia does not allow that and cash must be deposited, according to the big sign on the machine that I missed until the dealer told me.
Poker table games were $10 during our visit. It was $15 for 3:2 blackjack with surrender and re-split aces one time. Craps with five times odds and double zero roulette were also $15. Baccarat and Fortune Pai Gow Poker were $25.
We had our first and only issue with security on our trip here. It was minor. There is far more parking than the casino needs. Much of it is closed. Kristina wanted a picture of the racetrack. She walked across a coned parking lot to get it. Security ran her off, but she got her picture first.
Results: -$20, trip: +$685
Too tired to continue on this day
The night of partying at MGM National Harbor and all of our hard work over the last 12 days caught up with us. Neither of us wanted to drive. We were too tired.
We found a chain hotel in a remote part of Maryland just after noon. We checked to see if it had availability and an early check in. After the $20 trick, we were in our room 2.5 hours early before the standard check in time. We slept most of the next 18 hours.
