Love Cherokee Harrah's! My wife and I are both Diamond and get treated like a King & Queen. And yes, we WIN to! Not every time, but often. We always stay in the Soco Tower. Walk across the cross walk, take a right go down the escalator walk straight across and you are in the non-smoking section. Or instead of taking the escalator, use the elevator on the left and that takes you to within 20 feet of Ruth's Chris Steak house.

I have not been to Harrah's but just a few times and I have never had any luck!! I know I don't go as often or spend as much as some do but it would be nice to win a little something sometimes!! It would at least give you some hope and something to look forward to if the machines didn't take your money so fast with no return of anything. Oh well!! I am part Cherokee so I would probably come out better just proving that I'm in the bloodline and getting my check from them every month than I would ever winning anything lol!

The casino in Murphy is very close and makes it a much shorter drive for us Georgia people. Nice place and the casino plans to expand. Both Cherokee and Murphy have the tightest slots I have seen though. I am a platinum member and that means nothing with these properties. If you are platinum in Vegas or other areas for Harrah's, you are treated much better. I played blackjack for about 5 hrs and lost around $500 and asked for some food comps. I got $4 bucks. No lie. Let's face it, no competition is the issue. If Georgia finally allows casinos, these two casinos are in trouble. Good variety of slots and table games. They have several fast food options, but that's about it. Most of the employees are very friendly. The only issue we had was house keeping didn't clean out room our first night and we had to call them to ask them to come.

We've visited the Murphy location three times in 8 weeks. There's an awful lot of whining on this site about the slots being tight, but I must say, we've walked away winning some very handsome sums all three times. And, most importantly, we've had lots of fun and laughs in relative comfort.
My only complaint is that the non-smoking area is tiny...I need to hold my breath to get out of the building for all of the smoke. But I suspect they are doing all they can to evacuate the building of smoke.
On the positive side, the waitstaff, cashiers, and security folks have all been just super friendly, and the food is outstanding considering the only thing currently available is fast food. We can't wait for the expansion, the introduction of good restaurants, and hopefully, some day, entertainment. Great job, Harrah's! Keep up the great work!! We're SO glad you came to Murphy, NC!!

What a joke ever since l have become a diamond member harrahs Cherokee treats me terrible.On my bday l ask for upgrade on weekday they said NO favorite word!!Went to host station ask if they would do anything for my bday they said NO!!On way home stopped by new casino had a host finally come to me l thought great so l ask if anything for my bday said NO!!!Really why have host to piss people off?New casino is joke.Harrahs cherkee never gives me rooms on weekend.l just called and ask they said $439.00 on internet rooms only $339!!!Really harrahs l am a diamond member!so he said hold on let me ask host he came back and said NO!!I HAD RESERVATIONS LATER IN THIS MONTH SO I TOLD HIM TO CANCEL WONT BE BACK.DONT BECOME DIAMON THEY TREAT YOU WORSE.

This is a nice looking casino, but it is the worst casino as far as payouts that I have ever been to. There is no competition, and they are opening another casino in Murphy, but its the same owners. I was told by the federal gaming commission that this casino is regulated by themselves. The Cherokee Indians who own it with Harrah's, regulate it. It used to have better payouts, perks, coupons and even free concerts, and you had fun. Not any more. We all know the casino always has the advantage, but nothing like this gyp joint. Hardly ever get bonuses on slots and you pay big bucks for a drink where other casinos comp drinks and even room stays. Go where there is other competition. Save your money stay away from this horrible casino. I used to have fun at this casino, not anymore. It really is the worst casino I have been in. What a shame because it is a beautiful place. They need to loosen up those machines !

My wife and I always have a great time. not sure why everyone is talking about tight slots we were there this past weekend and seen all kinds of payouts The employes are always super nice and helpful.

What happened that you can't get a comp room anymore? They are charging for all the rooms...

Hotel is about it... Nothing else good about it.

I visit this casino at last twice a month since year 2000. The hotel improved a lot after the renovation. I believe this is about the same time Caesars took over management. However, the games are UUGHH ! In the last 3 years, the slots have become worse, to the point that you won't even have an adrenalin rush because you'll know you have less than 1% chance of winning. Before you'll see a lot of hand pays, but now you'll seldom see casino staff handing out payments. Even card games that uses a shuffler/dispenser are fixed, but we know this already anyway. They also used to give at least $50 birthday coupon for food purchases, now $5. They used to print cash vouchers for you when you forget them, now they won't do it. Caesars is obviously getting some of their losses from this casino location, as they have been bankrupted and their Vegas Casino is not really earning much. STAY AWAY, unless the tribe regains management. This casino beats most if not all casinos in all of America in revenue before Caesars took over. Now they still probably do, but once everyone comes to realization that this place is now just like one of the Vegas casino where it will just take your money, this place will fall, hard ! And I can't wait for it to happen soon, so the tribe can run it again.

After having planned a anniversary gift for my wife to the Harrahs Cherokee casino for over a month and having everything booked I passed the worst experience in my life. They had a security officer at the main door and he was the most discriminating person I have known he treated me as if I was from a different species or something, as soon as I entered he stopped me and my wife and asked for the ID I had lost mine and showed him my passport (which by the way I'm 41) but that was his excuse, that I didn't have my ID to not let us in. He said we could not enter the building and ended up ruining all my vacations, being in the place where they are located I had to drive 8 hours to get there and he ruined all our anniversary. Let's be serious he didn't let me in because I was (LATIN) that was his reason because having white hairs already he had no reason to say he could not prove my age that's ridiculous he discriminated us and I would have never expected that from such a distinguished casino that can't hire efficient people that are over the age era. Worst casino to go to, you can't enter the place if your from a different racial background, can't talk from the people inside because didn't have a chance to enter but hope there are more from the 21st Century.

It is so sad that the fun has been taken out of playing the slots. I saw this change coming about in 2005 and it has gotten worse and worse. After watching a documentary on tv, an interview with a Casino 'big wig', he made the comment, "The elderly don't care about winning jackpots - they just want to play, so we give them enough to play." I wondered which planet he was on when he 'interviewed' the 'elderly' because the elderly that I know love winning jackpots and here's a news-flash-they are just as disgusted as everyone else is with the Casino's greed. I predicted that some casino's would be closing....if we wanted to donate, we'd donate to a good cause...

Worst casino from a slots perspective that I've ever been to. Harrahs AND the Cherokee Indians need their cut so the payback percentage is reflected in that. You will lose money at the slots so if you play em just be prepared to lose a ton of cash.

Let's just say that I am in 100% agreement with the tight slots feedback here. It actually goes beyond just tight slots. The slots are so bad that it is ridiculous and no fun. Most slots are fairly tight but this is beyond that. Stay clear of this place. You've been warned.

As a Vegas regular, I can attest that the slot payback percentage in Cherokee is terrible. I never expect to win and in fact rarely if ever win, but the machines are so tight in Cherokee there is no entertainment involved. The Catawba Indians are trying to get a Casino in North Carolina and the Cherokee are fighting it because they know competition will force them to offer a decent gambling operation. The facility is really nice and the table games are good, but stay away from the slots unless you like donating money without having any fun along the way. Sure people win jackpots, but you have the same chance with that as playing the lottery. Good slots provide hours of entertainment and only slowly grinds away your money.

I would encourage the Cherokee Tribe to be transparent and release their slot payout percentage because I think it is low 80s.

We visit Harrah's Cherokee every couple of months. We are always given a free premium room. The hotel is nice, the staff is professional, friendly, and helpful. They have a large variety of slots, and we have fun playing $5 blackjack when a table is available. The dealers are all friendly, as are the pit bosses. The buffet is a bit pricey, however, the food is excellent. Selu (pronounced Shay-loo) Cafe is excellent. The Total Rewards club provides good comps (free rooms, free slot play, cash). Overall, we like the casino and the hotel!

I've sat here and read all the comments and reviews posted by past visitors to Harrah's Cherokee. After seeing most postings gave negative feedback I felt obligated to add my comments. I have been visiting Harrah's Cherokee for years, during the times of video only gaming up until the present time where they have a state of the art casino. Wonderful accommodations, great food and friendly staff. I'm not saying the things folks complained about such as mold coming out into the bath tubs, poor slot pay outs and hotel room availability being difficult didn't happen I can just assure you they have never happened to me. I win some times, I lose sometimes.....that's gambling. My room has always been clean and the staff have always given great customer service. My casino host contacts me regularly, informing me of special events and helping with reservations, in which I have never had a problem. Yes, I am a Diamond card holder and I may get some special treatments/comps but folks the casino is a business and it's more profitable to be able to offer a room to someone who plays $1000 a day in their casino than to give that same room to someone who may play $100 a day in a penny machine. If you owned the hotel who would you rather stay in your casino and give the comp to. There are lots of hotels rooms available in the area so staying outside the casino compound is a option. As to food, if you think the choices or prices in the hotel aren't sufficient and fair there are other choices available in the area. As far a gaming, I've won good money at blackjack, won large amounts on both regular slots and video poker, even enjoyed the craps table with reduced odd. I don't mind taking a bottle of my favorite bourbon with me and having a few drinks in the room before heading to the River Bar and having another drink downstairs in the casino. I think the drink prices are very fair and I have never waited very long for a friendly server to wait on me. Try giving them an extra nice tip every now and then , I assure you they will take better care of you. All in all my experiences at Harrah's Cherokee are right up there with other casinos I have visited in AC and Vegas. If you're only going to Cherokee to " strike it rich" .....most likely you will be disappointed. Like they say, these places won't built on people winning money. My advice is to go and enjoy the fun and the adrenaline rush you get from gaming, knowing that the next spin of the wheels, the next card or the next roll of the dice may be the one to make you a big winner but do so realizing the odds of a win may be less than you want to accept. Lady Luck be with you my friend. ........

Despite reading the other reviews warning me to stay away, I visited Harrah's because I was in the area. The reviews of the horrible payouts were absolutely true. They're angry awful...so awful you get angry at them. I was playing a slot for $1.50, and it took an hour to get a bonus, and the bonus gave me an additional fifty cents. Granted, you expect to lose money at a casino, but sheesh, give some playing time Harrah's!

Most casinos are full of excitement and you can feel the energy when you go in. This one is sad and smoky. From the downtrodden employees to the chain smoking hanging-all-over-each-other couples, everyone looked so sad. If Disneyworld is the happiest place on earth, this place is its evil twin brother Grumpyland.

Very good blackjack conditions for a stand alone in the middle of nowhere casino.
8 deck, 3:2, resplie pairs, DAS. Nice dealers and pit bosses.

Stay away from the roulette tables, the dealers can hit a number with in 2 of what they are aiming for. You will never see a big chip stack on a number hit more than once. I believe the dealers are paid commission on what they take in. Don't bet until the dealer release the ball in you want to WIN ! ! !

Was there last month and my slot jammed so the slot worker came over and opened up the machine with her key. She had trouble getting the machine back on line and had to re-boot the system. It displayed a PC DOS like script on the screen, which I wasn't supposed to see, and it had all the stats and data about that machine scrolling by. I distinctly saw the payout % that the machine was set to. 84.6%... I thought most slots were usually set to 90-95%. If I play long enough to bet $1k I will lose $160 on average. However, I do believe the high roller area has more loose slot %'s based on my experience.

I have to agree 100% with Tim M. The hotel is nice, the slots are the absolute worst from here to the northeast and over to the West Coast. I've played them literally all over the country and it's not even close. I kid you not, I have been to Harrahs Cherokee numerous times and their slots are BY FAR the worst/tightest you'll find. Complete waste of time, unless chunking a few hundred bucks in a 1/2 day is something you enjoy doing.

Go for the food or the hotel as both there are decent but unless you just have money to burn, don't bother with the slots. I suppose the Injuns need some way to pay for those new restaurants and hotel.

We hadn't been to Cherokee in months, and thought we would re-visit it this long weekend. The new additons were great, I highly recommend the buffet and Italian place. Some of the nicest folks we have encountered in our years of gaming. However, If you are looking for a modest rate of play for your bankroll, go somewhere else. I play table games and my wife bets on the slots and poker machines. The house's cut at the poker room is about 2 to 1 compared to other Harrah's operations. If you shoot craps, dont even bother. Their odds bets are ridiculus compared to others. The slot payouts are about 50 percent less than the Tunica casinos (per our calculations). Average rate of play for me and my wife was $400 per hour-$1 slots and poker machines. Watched my wife put 300 in one penny machine (2.50 per spin) never got a bonus, and had only four spins with greater than money back (@ 30 minutes). The lady next to us was hitting bonus after bonus on a true 5c bet! Nice place for dinner, but stay away from the gaming there. Most disappointing were these "counters" placed all along the casino, showing total payout for the day. It was in the millions. Just insulted our intelligence. Evidently they count every "money back" or "playback dollar" as a payout. It was a nice time, but for 4 grand in 24 hours of gaming, it wasn't that nice! We will be going to Tunica next trip. Even some of the locals there are livid about how the payouts have decreased and the jackpot amounts have increased on the progressive machines. Damn shame, such a nice place but its a "one visit" casino for most. Really surprised Harrah's has its name on this one.

Harrah's Cherokee really needs some competition. They can do whatever they want. I can't comment about the slots because I do not play them but they have recently changed the rules on the craps tables that shows the extent of their greed. They have now started charging the "vig" upfront when you are buying the 4, 5, 9 & 10. For those of you who don't play craps, when placing the 4&10, it pays 9 to 5. Placing the 5&9 pays 7 to 5. When buying the 4&10, you pay a 5% commission but it pays true odds, which is 2 to 1. 20 dollar bet after the commission pays 39 instead of 36. The 5&9 pays 3 to 2 , 29 instead of 28 on a 20 dollar bet. Now you must pay that upfront, regardless of whether or not you actually hit the number. If the shooter craps out before hitting that number, you have now lost your original bet plus 5%. That is a complete rip off! I will not play any more table games at Harrah's Cherokee unless it is changed back. Even though I live in North Carolina, it is still closer for me to go to West Virginia or Maryland than Cherokee anyway and Philadelphia is only 20 - 30 minutes farther. So long Harrah's Cherokee!