Is Imperial Casino worth a visit on a busy weekend night?
That five minute cage payout sounds unreal to me, every place I've been the queue drags on a Saturday 😅
Total noob here but I've only done the pub pokies scene around home, never an actual casino floor. The pokies being in a separate spot away from the tables is a good sell for me, I hate trying to hear my machine over a loud roulette table. Few questions for those who've been: is it easy to find a free pokie on a weekend night or do you end up waiting? And when you cash out at the cage, do they need ID every time or just for bigger wins? Keen to hear if it's worth the trip before I plan one, cheers for starting this thread mate 🙏
Learning to clear wagering, go easy 🙏
First casino floor after pub pokies is a proper step up, don't rate your own experience against the pub machines too hard. I went in on a Saturday myself expecting the usual crush and it was surprisingly chill, pokies tucked right away from the tables so you're not shouting over roulette chaos while you spin. Cage took me maybe five minutes, no queue at all, had my cash in hand before I'd even decided what to do with it 😅
Pub pokies have their place but you can't cash out at a cage there, everything just ticks over on the screen. If you do make the trip, set your session bankroll before you walk in and keep your bet per spin sensible, that's how I survived my first few visits without donating the whole night's budget. Went in with NZ$200 once, cleared most of it back on one decent hit and walked out up. That's the job, take the win when the cage is that quick 🎰
Bankroll discipline wins 💸
good call on not comparing pub pokies to a floor, jandal, that gap is real 😄 i took a newbie along once and he nearly fell over when a table dealer actually explained the game instead of grunting. and FreespinLord, that five minute cage run is no fluke, i hit it saturday arvo myself, tucked the pokies away from the tables and strolled up with no queue. old-school venues like that remind me of the grind days, just quieter.
The five minute cage payout is the one claim I'd actually believe here, to be fair. Small floor, off-peak crowd mid evening, no queue. That's exactly when it happens. Go at 11pm on a busy Saturday and I'd want to see the same story before I call it a pattern.
I'll say the pokies being tucked away from the tables is a genuine plus though. Pub machines train you to ignore noise, so walking into a proper floor where you can actually hear yourself think takes some adjusting. FreespinLord, one tip from watching mates learn this the hard way: set your session budget before you walk in, because nobody hands you a clock on a casino floor the way the pub does. And if anyone's heading out there, a photo of the cage receipt does more for this thread than any writeup.
Hype isn't a payout.
Paul_Win's got a point though, five minutes at the cage mid-evening tells you nothing about midnight on a proper Saturday. I've seen cages backed up worse than the Smiths Street chippie queue when someone lands a decent hit on the tables and half the floor decides to cash out at once. That said, if the pokies are tucked away from the tables like you say, that alone is worth the trip for me. Too many places chuck the machines right next to the roulette and you spend the whole session shouting over some bloke celebrating a number he didn't pick. Reminds me of the old setups where the reels actually got a quiet corner, the old slots hit different when you could hear yourself think. FreespinLord, first floor visit is a rite of passage, just set a figure before you walk in and treat anything past that as a bonus. Ah well, we grind on 😄
Busted more than you've deposited 😉
Honest question from me as a total newbie 😅 does the pokies being away from the tables actually make it easier to focus? Only ever played pub machines here in Timaru where it's just noise anyway, so a quieter corner sounds kinda dreamy. Might try a proper floor next payday 🙏
Asking dumb bonus questions, that's the job.
BigWin_bet, aye the quiet corner is real, and coming from a Timaru local that's saying something 😄 I remember the old days on machines like Tartan Jack back when RTP used to be fairer, and even then the pub noise got in the head. A pokies room tucked away from the tables means you hear your own machine, not someone's shout over a blackjack win.
But I'll needle Paul and Jandal a bit here. Five minutes at the cage is lovely, sure, though I've turned a lazy 50 into 5k once and watched that same cage turn into a scrum by midnight. One good table session ends and half the floor queues up. So was it a quiet Saturday or just a lucky hour? Ah well, we grind on.
It's all hit and busted before, folks.
Quiet pokies corner sounds good to me too, pub machines wreck my concentration 😅 Maybe a dumb question but did the table crowd actually stay calm late, or was that just early evening luck?
Learn something new about casinos every day.
Honest question from another noob here but is five minutes at the cage even worth bragging about if you turned up early? 😅 I'd reckon the real test is hitting the cage at 11pm on a Saturday after a table does something big, like JandalKiwi said. Still, quiet pokies away from the tables does sound sweet as, the pub machines near me in Napier are right next to the door and you hear every single thing going on.
Queenstown_Local1987 I'd also like to know if the calm held up late. My bet is the OP went at like 7pm and called it a weekend crowd lol. Still learning the whole land casino thing myself, only ever done pub pokies, so keen to hear if the floor actually stays chilled or turns into a zoo 😄
New here, soaking it up.
Five minutes at the cage is already a win in my book 😅 keen to give this floor a go after payday, sounds way calmer than the pub machines 🙏
New here, soaking it up.