After a short (very short) stop at HoChunk in WI over the 4th, I can report that all of the triple and five play 25¢ and 5¢ VP machines are gone. Big shock seeing that. The ones by the hot dog stand had a reasonable paytable, too. Some of their single line old machines were gone, too. A few one liners remain, some with the 8 coin requisite. I did see 2 stand-alone Multistrike uprights along with a bank of 8-10 Multistrike multi-denominational TITO in 2 separate areas but they were not operational yet.

Best game at Ho Chunk is NSUD in quarter triple plays. Next best is a Bally Game Maker with 9/6 double bonus with aces paying 1,000 and the straightflush paying 400 (99.0%). You have to watch the Gamemakers though as some have 800 for aces and some have the 1,000. Same with the straight flush. Some have 250 and some have the 400 coin payoff.

Visited Ho-Chunk casino, Baraboo, WI, Saturday, Dec. 13. Few items to note... 1)vp inventory was same as reported in database, BUT I couldn't find the TDW supposedly located by the slot club near "bus entrance". They're either gone or moved. I didn't scour the entire casino so perhaps someone can follow up. 2)$12.50 (50 coins in) = 1 pt. 3) 50 points = $1 Cashback. I compute that at .16% not the .1% the database reports. Please correct my math if I'm mistaken. 4) Points expire after 1 year of no use of slot card. 5) Birthday promos: a) $10 off bingo pack (play bingo for a buck!) on b-day ONLY b) Free bingo dauber on b-day ONLY c) Your birthdate FREE (so B-13 in this example) in bingo all night on b-day ONLY. d) $5 free coin any day during month of b-day e) Blinking "Happy Birthday" sticker. All employees who saw the sticker said Happy Birthday. Nice touch. 6) Ho-Chunk is combining the slot clubs of all 3 of their casinos (Ho- Chunk, Rainbow in Nekoosa, Majestic Pines in Black River Falls) but the other 2 casinos aren't ready yet. Eventually your points from all 3 will combine. Ho-Chunk now offers several new table games (Let It Ride, Caribbean Stud, 3 card poker, and craps). 6 deck BJ - .66% house edge (Dealer hits soft 17, Double any 2 cards, Double after Split, No surrender). Didn't check rules on 2 deck game. 10x odds on craps. Table min's on a Saturday night were $5 and up on all games. Not bad.

The four Ballys gamemakers that contain triple deuces are all now located near the Golden Opportunities Counter (slot club) near the "bus doors". The cashback rate is .1% and you can take cash OR comps, the comp rate appears to be .133%.