All I can say is that it's middle of the road. Nothing to write home about. Slots don't pay out very often, and the blackjack tables are so-so. I won more at Treasure Island in Red Wing. Now, if we go, it's for a concert and the buffet. The venue brings in some decent names and there's not a bad seat in the house. The buffet is good, but not great. A solid so-so rating here.

Have a decent player's club - but not the best. Lots of variety of slots, and not very many table games (which I think is because Canterbury has those covered a few miles away). The hotel rooms are the best I've stayed in while at an MN casino. The buffet the first time we got it was spectacular and every time since then we've been very disappointed, especially in the dessert options.

The slots at Mystic Lake have gradually gone more and more downhill in terms of payouts since 2003 in my opinion. Now they are REALLY tight, the tightest I've seen. I think Mystic Lake has a pact with the government to take money normally awarded to customers and give it to the government to help pay down the national debt. These people are CHEAP. The organization the Indians have awarded the running of the casino to is based out-of-state and is a very rich, large and cold heart-ed corporation. The organization that runs the casino insists on giving itself too much additional profit after paying the Indian owners. In 1998, I bet 78,000 dollars at Mystic Lake and won 77,000 back. In the last four years I have bet over 35,000 dollars on the slots at Mystic Lake and won just two jackpots, one for $1,500 and one for $1000, and have very, very rarely walked out a winner, I would say 8 times out of 9 I lose the 100 to 200 bucks I bet and the other time I average about 100 bucks in winnings - - that's it. Don't go if you have alternatives.

Any positive reviews are probably by Mystic staff or tribe. I've been going there way too long and it was bad but now it is terrible. To give you an example, I won sixty four free spins playing maximum on a penny machine, that's two dollars and fifty cents. I won one hundred eleven dollars. It should have easily been a couple of thousand. Other times my wife and I have won free spins on the max and won thirty dollars. I think the casino's in Minnesota (which are only allowed on Indian reservations as of this writing March 2012) are concerned that there is talk of expanding gambling beyond the reservations to fund a new football stadium and as such, they are tightening their belts. IMHO, I think Indian owned/run casino's are nothing but reparations and there is no incentive for them to payout. But that's just me.

I moved to MN from AZ. I got a players card at Mystic, thought I might enjoy going a few times now and then, but for every time I have been there, I have not won, I had 3 bonus rounds on a penny machine betting 1.50 each time. I had a bonus round where I won 350 credits, and 2 bonus rounds where I won 0. I decided that after watching people playing other machines and knowing what I was playing, Mystic Lake (Mistake Lake), is so tight with their payouts, it makes more sense for me to save my money for annual trips to Vegas and AZ. I claimed over 15K a year in winnings from Casino AZ. If you go there, check it out. And they have Vegas style machines (actual reels, not video). Vegas, we always win at the Venetian and Ceasars. Save your money and stay away from Mystic. I would love for someone to post whether they think any other casinos in the Twin Cities area seem to be better,

I have been gambling at Mystic Lake from the opening and in the last couple of years the slots have gotten too tight. I use to win about every other time I came, not any more. I play the dollar slots, they use to pay out more..
I am now going to go some place else.

I hope that blog E in Mpls builds a casino, Or slots go into the race track, we need them to compete with Mystic. Maybe than the folks at Mystic will see the light..

Where do I begin with this place? I frequent the facility (mostly poor decisions).
Mystic is a casino where it seems you can go from winning good bonuses
to not being able to win a single spin. Literally. Out of towners will not understand
this simply because they have been there one time.
This casino is the only one in the state that it seems can literally be turned off by
the owners or whatever software they use for the slots. I understand the principle
that im not going to win every spin, but if im not going to win a spin at all through
100$ thats when it gets difficult to keep the temper down.
I have been told that the games can go on "cold streaks". Ok, thats fine I just switch
machines right? WRONG. Apparently at Mystic if one goes cold, they all go cold.
Money making scheme.

Also in recent months, the employees at this casino have become regular and frequent
(forgive me) assholes. Very unfriendly and virtually unattentive. I had to track someone down
3 sections away for an elderly lady that hit a jackpot a few weeks ago. Finally found someone.
They said "someone is on there way." 20 minutes later someone showed up and when she
asked what the wait was about he was unusually rude and almost provacative towards this woman.
Really? It took your lazy ass 20 mins to get to her.

For your money you should seriously avoid this place until the gaming laws here can get within reason.
Lookin for a great place and friendly atmosphere? Try shooting star casino in Mahnomen. Excellent
facility, great games and extremly friendly staff. Excited to see you win there too! Keep your money
from Mystic Lake.

I understand this is a bad casino for slot payouts, but its blackjack games are bad too. They recently discontinued their single-deck game that they advertised so much because they didn't feel they were winning enough. Now their big ad campaign is about their $1 blackjack game, except that it isn't $1 because they collect 25 cents per hand. Of course, if you win you only get paid $1, not $1.25, so this is a game specially designed and promoted to take advantage of the people who don't understand that fact.

As far as casinos go Mystic is a pretty great one with a fun and inviting atmosphere. There are a lot of negative reviews on here but as far as I can tell it's no worse than any other casino I've been to including some in Vegas. Casinos and more specifically Slots have their good and bad days and just because I lose some doesn't mean I'm not gonna come back. The food here is AMAZING especially their Chinese, it is the best sesame chicken I've ever had and its all made to order! I haven't hit the big one yet but I am gonna keep trying :)

You got to be prepared to get in and get out that's all i can say. I'm there often because i live close. Slots are tight and if you hit they do pay. I give them a 4 for you drinkers because i don't drink and of no concern to me. If you like alcohol then it would be a 5 because the food is awesome!

It would be easier to break into Fort Knox than win on the slot machines at Mystic Lake!!

So smokey you can hardly STAND it.

By law, the machines have a cap of 98% return. The more you play, the more you will lose. Non-smoking areas are like non-peeing areas in a pool---they could do so much better by just making half of it non-smoking. The blackjack rules are decent and the only redeeming feature in gaming. They are threatening to serve liquor and raise return rates on machines if the state allows any more gambling---sounds good to me!

You really can't listen to what the other people on here are saying. This is a world class facility. Outside of Vegas, you won't find a better casino anywhere. Heck this is even nicer than a lot of the Vegas casinos. They now are up to over 5,000 slot machines, and a huge blackjack area, and my biggest complaint is that it's still not enough. Weekends are so crowded that literally every machine is full and every seat at every blackjack table. They will be opening up another new area, but I hope they have more expansion plans in the works because I can't really go on Fridays anymore because I can never find a machine.

The whole building is SUPER clean, and SUPER fancy. The new remodeling is stunning. The slots aren't nearly as tight as people claim, I've spent over $15,000 there this year (according to my base points) so far, and I'm up about $300. Sure I have my bad nights and my good nights, but this place is not as tight as some people claim (if you sit on the same machine the whole night then you can expect to lose more, faster, yes).

The restaurants are all great. il Premio has the best Italian in the state. It's fancy food that will impress even the craziest foodies, and it's dirt cheap. The buffet features homemade food for $12.95 most nights, and it's great (and HUGE). The "fast food" restaurants have some of the best food I've ever eaten, all of your food is made fresh to order and is always ready within about 5-10 minutes. The only thing I wouldn't really recommend is the Minehaha Cafe. It's the place that is open 24/7, and it features a lot of frozen food. Old people love it, and people who don't know food love it, but for everyone else stick with buffet, ilPremio, or the Promenade fast food restaurants.

Overall, this place is totally amazing, but they need to do something about the severe lack of slot machines available. It's crazy to think that 5,000 isn't enough, but on the weekends they could use at least 8,000. They'd make more money and people would be happier.

I have been playing slots for many years and have watched Mystic Lake slot payouts go from good, years ago to virtually non-existant now. The so called bonus games on the slot machines first take forever to get and then when you finally do get into them they pay out horrible. Example on a 30 line penny machine 10 bonus games at different times paid:
70 cents
20 cents
0 cents

Most of the people I sit next to are complaining about the place and the payouts. The hopes of a racino at Canterbury are mentioned numerous times which I would have to agree. What this place needs is some competition to loosen their slots up. Right now they can set them as tight as they want because they have a monopoly on gambling in the metro area.

The smoke in the place is awful. I feel very sorry for the workers that have to take it in on a daily basis. Ask them sometime how many employees have passed away from cancer-I am sure they don't make that public knowledge. I never even thought about it until I was talking to one of the workers and they told me they were going to another employee funeral and the person was young.

I used to go to Vegas years ago and will be saving my gambling money for a place where it lasts longer.

There is absolutely no way to win here. There is a huge array of slots here with all the newest games but they are so tight and the payouts so small, they are not worth playing. The second hand smoke is gagging. The floor service people are slow and lazy. Customer service and comps are nearly non-existent. The hotel is nice and very clean and there is an excellent pool. The buffet is so-so and high priced and the grills and deli is average. There is NO beer or alcoholic beverages available but self serve soda and coffee/ tea is readily available. Take the shuttle to the Little 6 casino restaurant for some great nightly specials for under $10

Very tight slots. Very rarely hear anyone getting excited. Way too many machines. Blah atmosphere. No fun. Would it kill you to let us win once in a while? I vote yes to slots at Canterbury!!

I put over ten thousand dollars trough the dollar slots at Mystic Lake and never hit more than 120 dollars. I kept thinking one good pay and ill never come back here,it never happened,i quit. GO play at Mystic Lake if you like playing with little/no chance of winning.

I can say that Mystic has been really tight. I could go out there with $50 and spend the day there and have a good time. Now, you don't dare go out there with less then $200 or more and most of us can not afford it, but we still like to have fun. It would be nice with all the changes and it should not affect the way the slots are. We already spend enough money out there.

The casino has beautiful architecture but . . . Smoke is everywhere; no liquor (I don't drink anyways, but the people I go with would)

I would recommend to go in for the experience. They do have 2 casinos, the smaller one is quiet and has less smoke.

Canterbury park is right down the road; I have only been there for the race track (and they remodeled the table area anyways.

Treasure Island is only about 5 more mins from where I live; MUCH preferred. I entered a blackjack tournament (free) and a person I went with won about $800 from playing in the same tourney.

Horrible Second-Hand Smoke! Everywhere! They just don't care!

TIGHT machines!

LAZY workers!

WORST of the worst!

If you spend enough you get offers for free hotel rooms but the slot machines are so tight with NO payouts it just isn't worth the trip to get a free room with no payouts with their games.

Four of us went a couple weeks ago and not one of us was EVER ahead one time in a weekend :( Was never like that before but has gotten worse over time. I suppose they have to have extra money to pay for all the upgrades, but the hotel is really nice.

The buffet used to be good until we realized they have the EXACT same thing day after day so after one day you don't want to go back. At Ribbon's they managed to screw up 4 meals so we will never eat there again! The cafe is good, actually very good. I agree save up for a cheap flight and enjoy Vegas. At least there I played 4 days before losing the same amount I lost in 5 hrs at Mystic Lake!

This casino has the worst payouts of any casino I have ever been in.....period!!! Nice looking casino but would not recommend this casino to anyone!!

You can spend $20 on penny machines betting the minimum in minutes! Glad to hear they "reportedly" donate to charities...doesn't concern me much when I am the one losing the money! Stay Home or save up for Vegas...your odds will be much better!!!!

It's the casino closest to home, but I no longer go there. The slots are tight, the atmosphere is no fun (in part because there's no alcohol). The clientele is a mix of seniors with oxygen tanks, 18 year olds that are allowed in because its dry, and an underclass that shouldn't be gambling.

They have an abundance of empty high-limit tables and one low-limit table that people are stacked 3 deep at waiting to get on. I realize they are limited in what they can offer for table games, but a pai gow poker table would be nice.

If you like to go to the casino for slot machine play you are better off driving the extra miles to some of the other casinos in this state, or for that matter taking a cheap flight to Las Vegas, I went to Mystic Lake a total of 6 times this year and not one time was i ever ahead while playing. Their machines are simply too tight and this place is the prime example why indian gaming needs to be regulated. The slot machines that advertise bonus games do not give bonus games. The new constructions looks nice but lets be realistic, they have to pay for it, unfortunatly this tride does not understand that if you want to create repeat customers you throw them a bone once in awhile. I truly hope this casino fails and encourage others to share their stories or to even create a blog about this place. Dont waste your money, they have not earned it here.

This casino is by far the worst casino I have ever been to (in any state) when it comes to payouts. They're slots are so tight that you can't play $20 on a penny machine for more than 10 min (and that's even betting the minimum). This casino has gotten so big and made some really cool changes, but it's all for not when they don't pay. I recommend that you go in and look around then leave cause it's a really beautiful casino just sucks on the gambling part!

if you got some money to gamble with, don't go here. it is bad and on weekends and holidays you better be ready for going home with a lot less then you came with.

all the reviews posted are at 10 yrs old. if there were reviews posted in the past two yrs, it would be so negative. This casino is boosting about how much they do in community improvement and charity.

They make sure that they keep there image positive. They have the worst payoffs in slots than any casino in MN. Try to have fun there playing the slots and you will be broke in a short time because you may not even get one pay. sure 10 yrs ago they were very good in payoffs and you could have some good fun playing slots mystic has a monopoly on the largest population area in the state. They have the control of the legal gambling and know how to take your money all the time.

We've been there a couple of times...it's quite a long trek for us and we won't be doing it again. The prices keep going up & up. Their gift shop has No Selection and they've managed to out price themselves! Also if they don't bring in liquor soon, they'll probably be out of business! And that's as truthful and straight to the point as I could get!

Mystic Lake is undoubtly the best casino in Minnesota. It has the flavor of Las Vegas with a large selections of slot machines.

I love to receive the promotional mailings and the comps which I do take advantage of. I have stayed in the hotel which is very nice...although I spend much of my time in the casino.

The buffet and various restraurants have something for everyone and if you are not very hungry...don't worry someone will come around selling hot dogs for a small price.

My friends and I say this is the place we come to relieve our stress because we have so much fun. The employees are Mystic are helpful and very courteous.

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