A Gamer's Concise Guide to Combating Boredom in Black Hawk and Central City, CO by Zube (zube@stat.colostate.edu) Created: Dec 27, 2002 Updated: Dec 27, 2006 http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~zube/docs/gamble.txt My Mother is a gambler. This means that every time she visits, we're off to Black Hawk for the day so she can feed the slot machines. As gambling does not interest me, during previous trips I took books along to pass the time. Although you can find places to read in a casino, the atmosphere is more than wanting. For example, the thick haze of cigarette smoke is nothing compared to the great disco sounds of _Get Up and Boogie_ by Silver Convention. Sitting outside isn't an option either, as my trips are usually around Christmas when the temperature, wind and occasional snow make for unpleasant reading conditions. So I stiffened my resolve, brought lots of warm clothes and decided to walk about both towns to see what I could find. I was hoping for an arcade but I'd settle for just about any arcade game (or if I was lucky) pinball. Black Hawk, which is at the bottom of a large hill, has gobs of casinos, old buildings and, as of 2006, a very small arcade found at 231 Gregory Street. Alas, it was on "winter hours," open only on Saturday and Sunday between 3pm and 10pm. A peek in the windows revealed the following games: Blitz 99 Super Bikes Dual Big Buck Hunter Pro Beach Head 2002 Pac-Man (from the side art; could be anything in the cab) 3 San Francisco Rush somethings Time Crisis and a few others a couldn't make out behind the locked door. Central City's arcade is also still there. It's part of one of the casinos on Main Street (just keep going up the hill; you can't miss it). Find the overhang that reads Easy Street Casino and follow the Arcade arrows. Go through the doors, into the elevator and down. The arcade has more games than you might expect (and even two pins and an air hockey table), but many of the games are in poor shape. Here's a rundown of what's there: Namco Class of '81 -- screen fuzzy Captain America and the Avengers Terminator 2 Judgement Day -- impossible to play due to poor gun calibration Carnevil -- screen very dark Target Terror Gold -- screen fuzzy Maximum Force Gauntlet Legends -- blue controls broken Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Blitz 99 Sitdown Turbo Outrun -- screen has issues, cabinet in poor shape Big Buck Hunter Pro -- $1.00 Crazy Taxi -- $.75, D/S shifter broken; must be held to work Dual Need for Speed Underground -- $1.00 Dual Crusin' USA -- $.50 Crusin' Exotica -- $.75 GP 500 sitdown -- $.50 Revenge from Mars pinball -- off World Cup Soccer pinball -- dirty, flippers weak and sometimes stick at top of stroke, soccer ball never spins Several Maxitouch countertop games As the only game in town (in winter on weekdays anyway), it's worth a visit. However, don't expect too much. The posted signs warning of dire consequences for obnoxious, obscene or unruly behavior didn't deter the handful of children nor did the management seem to care, which was in perfect harmony with their attitude towards the games. If you don't like to walk, you can get around Black Hawk and Central City by bus. The shuttle is free and goes to or near all the major casinos and like most shuttles, it doesn't come around often enough when it's cold.