John Schneider: New Little Traverse casino is underwhelming

To be fair, I didn’t expect to like the place much. It’s a Class II joint. No black jack. No craps. No three-card poker. No table games at all. Strictly machines. I knew all that going in, but the place still managed to fall short of my expectations.

Imagine a metal-sided pole barn in which five or six dozen slot machines are lined up like drill presses in a machine shop. Gracelessly. There aren’t even video poker machines, which require at least a modicum of knowledge. Add some obnoxious background music that sounds like it’s coming from an old boom box, a cigarette machine, a pop dispenser, a few employees barely bothering to pretend it’s a real casino … that about sums it up.

I realize the place is not what the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians had in mind. The tribe, one assumes, will continue to seek local government approval for the Class III casino it wants. In 2003, the village council in Mackinaw City rejected a tribal application to build a casino north of the new site. Some believe that a full-blown casino would be detrimental to Mackinaw City’s image as a family destination.