Ya Gotta Know When to Hold 'em...

and know when to fold 'em. Sage advice from Kenny Rodgers.

We visited the new Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati for the first time on Saturday. Yeah, we picked the biggest party weekend of the year, St. Patrick's Day, for our first visit to the casino, which had opened little more than a week before.

Timing is everything. It was an easy drive from the east side taking 275 to 471 to the Liberty Street exit. Turn left on Reading Road and the parking garage entrance is right there. We arrived around 7:00 p.m. and were able to quickly find a parking space in the 2,500-space, five-story parking garage. We were pleased to find out parking was free on the weekends as well as on week nights from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

There was no line to get in to the casino. We walked right in without a wait. So far, so good.

First of all, a disclaimer: I am not a gambler. Gambling does nothing for me. On the other hand, my husband was raised reading a racing form at River Downs. So he gambles and I wander around with my Bud Light in hand and people watch. And there is no better place to people watch than a casino.

Blue ice cubes surround the Rock Bar

The first thing that attracted my attention was the really cool Rock Bar and Lounge right smack in the middle of the 100,000 sq. ft. casino floor elevated slightly above the 2,000 slot machines and 85 gaming tables. The bar was packed with patrons rocking to Anna and Milovan, a local father daughter team plus one. The bar area is oval-shaped walled by tall columns with generous open space between each column. This allows gamblers, wandering from one slot machine to the other, to see and listen to the music from outside the bar area. The surrounding architecture of the bar area includes columns of what looks like giant blue ice cubes that you can peek through as well.

The food venues are all accessible from inside the casino floor and include Bobby Flay's Bobby's Burger palace (a two hour wait that night), Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville (a three hour wait), Jack Binion's Steak (didn't even attempt it), Starbucks, and The Spread Buffet with the Cafe Italia (20 minute wait). We settled for pizza at the Cafe Italia, squeezing six of us into two small round tables with only three chairs available.

Electronic roulette. Bets are placed on a touchscreen.

The Horseshoe offers a good variety of electronic games in addition to the zombie-inducing slot machines. In addition to the traditional roulette tables, that dole out chips to play, there is electronic roulette. There are also multiple choices of video poker games,  including Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild and All Star Poker. There is a separate 31-table World Series of Poker room for the more serious poker player. Total Touch Technology allows you to order drinks from the slot machine so you won't have to interrupt the crucial concentration it takes to play slots.

What I didn't see that night was the 33,000 sq. ft. second level slotted for meetings and events. The second level includes The Pavilion for live performances with seating for 1,400.  Joel Mchale will perform stand up comedy on April 20 and IL DIVO, a classical crossover quartet, will perform on April 27. But wait, there's more! The Horseshoe is planning a summer concert series as well. These concerts will take place on the outdoor event plaza, The Shoe, located at the front entrance of the casino. The Grammy-nominated rock band, The Killers, will kick off the summer concert series on May 16. Now that's what I'm talking about. Give me live entertainment any day over a slot machine.