JACARANDA CASINO, Sheraton - Strongly Worded Letter

AkanmuAbuja@gmail.com

Rating: 5/10

January, 2013

"Jacaranda Casino" – Casino

Sheraton Hotel, Ladi Kwali Way,

Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, Nigeria.

Please see the bottom of this letter in the Highlights/Review section, as well as the bold sentences for the brief version of this letter/review.

Letter to Jacaranda Casino Management

Dear Jacaranda Casino Management,

This is a strongly worded letter to express my opinions following my experience at your establishment. I should inform you that this letter is being made available to the public through the internet, primarily for the purpose of empowering or entertaining other consumers curious about your establishment.

I will preface this by saying that Casino best practices and etiquette clash with Nigerian culture. For example, I heard a player telling a dealer “do I look like your mate?” at which point the dealer apologized, even though the dealer had done nothing wrong. That being said, my initial rating was 3/10 but I have added 2 points to compensate for Nigerian culture’s role in the unprofessional nature of Jacaranda’s management. Nonetheless, compared to other Casinos in Abuja and in the country, Jacaranda is literally a 5 out of 10. That is, Jacaranda is an average Casino, assuming on the scale of 1 to 10, 1 would be a terrible casino and 10 an excellent casino.

The first odd thing about Jacaranda is that patrons are required to pay 4,500 Naira to get into the Casino. This is because the 4,500 is converted to $30, using Jacaranda’s fixed dollar conversion rate of $1 as 150 Naira, which is a fairly standard exchange rate in other casinos in the country (but ultimately lower than the market rate). The difference however is that all game play in Jacaranda is strictly in dollars, which also seems inconvenient at first glance but realistically makes playing easier than if Naira was used, requiring higher denominations to play each hand. However, the inconvenience shines through when in a game like blackjack, a player has to double down on their last $5 dollars and the player realizes that based on the conversion rate, they need 750 Naira, meaning that if they have only a 1,000 Naira note, they literally get short-changed the difference. Thus, ultimately, the fact that dollar is used as the primary denomination of play ends up being an inconvenience for the player. Another example of this is that if a player tries to cash out Jacaranda’s $2.50 chip, they lose out on the cash they receive from the Casino, meaning the conversion rate allows the casino to make a lot of extra money after multiple transactions (not to mention the fact that dollar to naira exchange rates are usually above 150, and so if a player starts out with dollars and only receives a Naira cash out as is the policy, the player loses money automatically).

Regarding the games in Jacaranda, I give you credit for having a decent array of tables with various games like Three Card Poker, 5 Card Draw, Blackjack, Roulette, Bingo, and even as of February 1^st 2013, Texas hold’em Poker. Also appealing is the fact that there are multiple roulette and blackjack tables, meaning that on most occasions, there is indeed enough space for customers to get a chance to play their preferred game. There are even 2 sets of blackjack tables, with one having a $5 minimum and the other a $20 minimum. The various table games, in addition to the many slot machines are what are most impressive about Jacaranda. Literally put, one of the only good things about this casino is that people can go here and successfully gamble with the $30 converted chips it costs them to enter. It should be noted however, that the $30 initially converted are a different type of chips from the regular house chips because they cannot be cashed out and so, yes, you do in fact force your customers to pay you $30 to play in your casino. This is almost as odd as the fact that of the 3 times I have visited this casino, I was told I had to pay for the drinks I ordered. Granted, I am no high roller, but come on, a casino that doesn’t provide free drinks!!!…shame. Do you realize that liquor results in people making braver and less rational choices?

Cutting to the chase, I will let you know what the worst thing about your casino is. Your dealers, inspectors, and managing pit bosses are unprofessional. This shows in the fact that they sometimes hold game play for minutes on end for the sake of the ego of one or two players. How about you man up and educate your customers on casino etiquette. For example, people shouldn’t be making phone calls and thus holding up the other 4 players on a blackjack table (I didn’t even realize that casinos allowed mobile phone use at their tables). Furthermore, the dealers shouldn’t question a player’s moves or comment on it unless a player makes a move against the game’s rules or asks for the dealer’s assistance. For example, when I had a 15 in blackjack and the dealer was showing a face card, per the statistically logical thing, I decided to hit, at which point the dealer and inspector both questioned my motives. As if it is any of their business how I gamble (I won that hand by the way :p). This type of unprofessionalism occurred more than once. Other examples include the fact that inspectors and pit bosses sometimes yell at and scold dealers in front of us players, which encourages the players to yell at the dealer occasionally, and you even find situations when a dealer and player argue over something like “I, the player reached for my pocket so although I said nothing, you the dealer should have automatically known my intentions and held up the game for a minute while I sorted through my money and converted money to make a new bet” (I paraphrase). It is just ridiculous how unprofessional the staff in this casino is. What is even sillier is that the dealers are unwilling to teach players how to play the games, as was the case when I inquired about how to play 3 card poker from a bored dealer at a table that was completely empty. He basically shooed me off and asked if I wanted to bet or not. Disgustingly unprofessional.

The only redeeming factor that you show is that there is a buffet that comes out at 10pm. This buffet usually has slightly above average food, which provided it doesn’t run out before every player eats, (as regulars tell me it does on most nights) partially makes up for the $30 cover charge you impose on players. But even the slightly above mediocre food here cannot make up for the fact that the crowd here tends to be primarily loud and obnoxious, making what should be a jolly gambling atmosphere a mostly unattractive one. You should take some cues from your neighboring casino in Transcorp Hilton, which, although having higher minimums, offers free drinks, has more professional staff, and a much jollier atmosphere.

                                                                                                                             

Please feel free to contact AkanmuAbuja@gmail.com if you represent Jacaranda Casino and would like to respond. I will be willing to revisit Jacaranda (even though I would hate to throw my 4,500 Naira your way) and update my review for this establishment if you feel I have overlooked something worth mentioning.

Warm Regards,

Akanmu

Highlights/Review

1.     This is a strongly worded letter to express my distaste for Jacaranda Casino’s poor management.

2.     There is a 4,500 Naira required playing amount here each day you enter, making it compulsory to throw money the house’s way, even if you would not like to gamble that much. There’s no room for bringing a friend to hang with you while you gamble unless you want to throw another unredeemable 4,500 Naira the way of the casino for each additional person.

3.     Service here is disgusting because of the unprofessional staff.

4.     The tables in the casino open around 8pm and there is a buffet that comes out at 10pm, with bingo being played at 10.30pm, meaning 9.30 – 11 is when the casino is most crowded. The casino closes at 2am, but most tables shut down at 1.30am.

5.     There are $5 minimum tables here for most games and the standard $2 for roulette, making it relatively cheap to gamble, which is a plus.

6.     There is no free liquor.

7.     Based on my inquiry, the buy-in for Texas hold’em Poker is $200, which is also reasonable.

8.     If you truly want to gamble without feeling like you’re surrounded by ‘randoms’ (I hate to sound like a snob), you might as well go to the Transcorp Hilton’s casino.

9.     The buffet is NOT worth being forced to gamble 4,500 Naira each time you visit but it is not bad food nonetheless if you want to gamble and eat at the same time.