Donna Found Her Casinos

I was hoping our trip to Ruidoso would be all about being tourists, but if there is a casino within 100 miles, Donna is going to sniff it out. This time, I'm rather glad she twisted my arm to visit a casino.

Our first casino visit was to Casino Apache. Located on the Mescalero Apache Reservation on US 70 just a few miles west of Ruidoso, the casino is actually a "Travel Center". Not only can you gamble to your heart's content, but you can refuel your car, get it washed, grab a bite to eat, and do various other things. Actually, we found some rather decent games there for video poker -- 9/5 Jacks or Better at quarter level, among others. I did not check the pay schedule for dollar machines.

We only stayed a short while, though, just long enough to see what was available. We then drove a few miles to Inn of the Mountain Gods. Both casinos are owned by the Mescalero tribe, so both accept the same players' club card. The Inn of the Mountain Gods is more like the casinos we frequent, complete with hotel, buffet, and other amenities. As regards video poker, we found basically the same games that we discovered at Casino Apache, so we decided to play at the Inn. We had a good time.

We sat down at some quarter machines with 9/5 Jacks or Better. I was having a bit of luck, winning just a tiny bit. After about 3 or 4 minutes, Donna complained that she was not hitting anything. That's odd, because Donna always hits something. Suddenly, things got quiet at her machine. I glanced over and saw a lot of hearts lined up on her base line. She was having trouble figuring out what she had; about that time, I said, "Hey, old woman, you hit a royal." Sure enough, the old gal had a royal flush in hearts, good for $1,000. I would go on to eventually churn out $300 myself, so we left the casino with much more than the $200 we had decided we would play on. That was the first royal Donna has hit in almost 2 years, and it has been longer for me.

After I cashed out, I walked the casino and hotel, looking at all the Apache art work and admiring the beautiful views from the hotel lobby. The setting for the casino is gorgeous. I'd love to see it in winter when snow covers the ground. Now that we had some luck there, I'm sure Miss Donna is going to insist that we return in the near future. I'm game.

Below are some of the many pictures I took of Inn of the Mountain Gods.

Tribal artwork in the valet parking area.

Some of the cultural art work that lines the walls of the casino and hotel.

Mescalero Warrior

View from inside the hotel lobby

View from balcony outside hotel lobby

View from balcony outside hotel lobby

Miss Donna in front of waterfall outside hotel

Diamond Donna with her winnings. We can't figure out where the 1 cent came from. Since they are multidenomination machines, someone playing pennies must have left it on the machine.