Casino Locale

Casino Locale

by Mason Weaver

Thursday, October 7th, 2010. It is 3am at the Black River Casino in Drumright, Oklahoma. You sit at the packed video poker machines inside the largest free-standing metal building in Creek County. Black River was the biggest thing to happen in NE Oklahoma ten years ago, but competition from the newer, bigger, nicer, and cleaner Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Tulsa has turned this place into a sad shadow of its promised glory and profit. 

In a final attempt to attract new gaming dollars, Black River is running a $50 Free Play Thursday for all Power Points card holders. The promotion has worked - you’ve never seen this many people here in the middle of the night. But the promotion has also brought out the Cheaters - people who abuse the promotion by using multiple Power Points cards to cash in on the $50 over and over. It isn’t illegal exactly but getting caught means you're banned from the casino.