Fort Mcdowell Casino

I love going to Fort McDowell Casino to play bingo. But I must say, the smell of cigarettes is almost unbearable. I believe the ventilation is on low or it does not work at all. When I get home, I have to shower and wash my hair because my husband says the cigarette order is horrible.
Also, I think the area where the ladies and men are stationed at (that sell us our bingo games) should be glassed in so those poor people don’t have to be subjected to second hand smoke. If one of your employees ever develop lung cancer and they didn’t smoke, you are certainly going to be held responsible. I repeat, they area where the sellers are at should be «Glassed In» for their health safety.

The food and beverage Manager Zack reached out and offered us a free meal to give them another chance. We went last night and the food was much better. They had filet of beef and shrimp scampi featured along with other buffet choices. Everything that I had was excellent and definatelly better than most buffet food. The staff was very friendly and attentive and we were both very impressed. The coffee was some of the best I have ever had also. My husband and I both commented on it. Thank you Zack for following through and we will be back.

The casino floor is so full of musk and smoke I felt like I was going to pass out. Bad and ancient atmosphere.

Old slot machines malfunction, rude employees, promotions canceled abruptly, dishonest servers, I can keep going on & on. Something really wrong with Casino management team especially Poker Room.
Tribal Police (only this one) is very bias against non-​Indian people even if we drive into Reservation to give money away: Be extremely careful as they love to give you traffic tickets for minor offence like temporal speeding due to down slope.
I even don’t believe the drawings (for some cash) are managed fairly.
I only go there’ cause I live within 10 minutes drive.

We came here to play some midnight bingo for a date night. We did an overnight in the hotel, which was very nice, and went to the casino around eight to waste some time. We played a little blackjack, stayed even, lost in the tightest slots I’ve ever seen. The buffet closes early, so we were stuck with limited options. About ten years ago, I recall the snack bar food being decent, but last night it was horrible. I got the nachos supreme and it was all a flavorless pile of mush. Come here with low expectations, and take a shower right after you leave. The smoke smell is crazy. Also, all the staff is just over working there…

It’s a casino with slots, table games and drinks. Not sure what else to expect when you go to one. Funny thing, can’t do well at these blackjack tables EVER. Every time I have been to Vegas I can at least break even. Not here. Other than that, their Fourth of July Fireworks show is always one of the best!

I am an enthusiastic and hopeless gambler, so I am particularly familiar with the legendary stench of this casino.
Out of all the casinos in the valley, none has mastered the art of combining decade old accumulated cigarette odor with the smell of foot scrapings quite as well as the fort. You must have a strong nose to play in this dated and ugly joint to begin with, and that’s one star gone.
Now if you love winning, get ready to be disappointed. Unless you’re playing 5 buck poker in their Tuesday thru Thursday 7pm tournaments (which with double chips and 20 buck addons turn it into a 30 buck tournament) and don’t mind playing donk poker for 4 hours, you will not win a damn thing. The place has slowly but surely gotten rid of any and all slots that might even have a whiff of a chance (and I don’t mean the sewage dipped in cigarette butts stench of the place) of netting you any satisfying wins. I haven’t won anything substantial here in YEARS. The closest I came to anything remotely celebration worthy was a 400 buck jackpot back when they still had the Michael Jackson slots. If dreaming about winning 50 bucks after putting in 200 bucks on a penny slot is what you enjoy, this place is for you. For me? Nope. That’s another star gone.
The place itself has aged about as well as Keith Richard’s face. It is horrid. Good thing you’re here to gamble and not to appreciate architecture, huh? Another star gone.
The promotions? They are an absolute joke. This is the only casino in the valley that gives you freeplay you can ONLY use on like 30% of the slots in there, namely only the ones that have a crown poster flopping on top of them. They’re basically saying you have to play what THEY want you to play, and what they want you to play are shitty low payout slots, like the Alice in Wonderland slot with videoreels that is literally only 4 years old or so but have been kept in such a poor state of disrepair that you can barely even see the videoreels on it anymore. What did you DO to these poor slot machines, guys? All the smoke in the world couldn’t possibly have whited out the screen that badly! Another star gone.
Honestly, I’m forced to give this place one star and i’ll justify that star by saying I love cheap Poker against bums who go all in with 8 – 4 offsuit when I have kings and then watching them hit a miracle 5 6 7 flop and bemoaning my bad luck! If you play slots though? There’s… crap, go to Las Vegas, nothing in town has decent slots. And you sure as hell don’t wanna drive out to smelly feet casino to try for a 500 buck jackpot off a 4 buck bet on penny slots…

We had sushi here in the casino. Surprisingly the sushi was perfect. All though a smokey casino leaves a stinky after taste. Over the casino was clean and nicely disinfected. Just wish the smoke wasn’t so strong.

Great experience. Excellent customer service at the Players club. The bartender was even fantastic!

Visited Fort Mcdowell Casino on Friday night and it was lively and just the right amount of fun but not like Vegas «wow». There were lots of play options and slots, less card tables than other places I’ve been in the valley it seems, but it has BINGO and a lively jazz lounge. All it was missing was a dance club. The smoke was thick in some areas and parts of the casino were much warmer than others.

this casino is a blast! Especially the noodle and sushi bar! Unexpected great fresh sushi is always a great deal of fun, when you can win a grand in slots. A wonderful relax casino.

I love this casino the red rock buffet has all you can eat crab legs for just $ 15 per person. It also includes other meats like ribs roast, chicken, fish a bunch of food for vegetarians a huge salad bar and a variety of different deserts. The workers are very friendly and quick to service it is great place to bring the kids and family for dinner. As to gambling they always have winning jackpots! I win money every time.

One star is too much. Old fashioned, smoky environment with disinterested casino staff. Have not won anything here. Slots are tight and the tables are unwelcoming due to rude and disinterested dealers. Your clothes will smell like pure smoke when you get home. Food is low quality. Go somewhere else.

A small off-​the-​wall casino near Fountain Hills. Very smokey and run down. If you are coming here strictly to play, you will NOT win. Save your money for vegas or another casino in the valley. I have been here numerous times and have not won a penny, literally. The drinks are cheap and the food is mediocre. They have a huge bingo hall and occasional live entertainment. Let’s just say it’s not my favorite spot by any means…

This is a fun place to go. Many different types of games to play and many dining options. We always have a good time at the Fort!

The place is completely unorganized and chaotic with an overpowering smell of cigarette smoke. Machines and décor seem outdated. No good restaurant choices. The only reason we stayed is because the drinks were cheap. $ 2 draft beers and $ 5 you-​call-​its.

This was a great time and loved the set up of the hotel and casino. The only downside was on how far it was, but heck when you want to get out of town this location is secluded and we enjoyed our stay. I’ll be back.

Didn’t gamble here as I’m tight about kissing my money away and… didn’t want to get lung cancer from the heavy 2^nd hand smoke. And, I was worried about this as I was sitting in non-​smoking section the entire hour! STAFF: please invest in better ventilation — you are killing ppl and making them smell bad!
Yes, other reviews are pretty spot-​on: aged, heavy smoke, etc. Overall, I felt pretty depressed and stinky in there.
Their sashimi at their Sushi bar was fresh and delicious though, I must say! Had Seafood Soup and it was probably a ²⁄₅. Lacked solid seasoning and seafood was rather rubbery.
I showered when I got home. Not trying to be a jerk, just giving you #rawtruth. :)

This review is mostly for the pow wow and buffet, as I only went into the casino to eat. I recommend this three day event if you can make it next year. They had a really good food court area with homemade treats, including of course, fry bread. The dances were going on all evening, and there was authentic American Indian arts and crafts for sale. There was a Kona Ice stand as well as some of the best kettle corn I have ever had. Prices were very reasonable and the event to get in was free!
It was remarkable to see the obvious hundreds of hours that went into the dancer’s costumes. I felt really welcome as everyone was so friendly. Later, when I went into the casino and I was bummed that there is no wifi! huh? Of course there was also no cell service inside the casino as well until I walked a good 200 feet outside of the casino. The place is very smoky, not what I’d call Circus Circus in Las Vegas smoky, but it was pretty bad. This even after I saw numerous signs saying, «Thank you for not smoking,» huh? It took me awhile to find the buffet as things are more than disorganized.
You’re not going to get the best quality crab legs here but they are pretty good nonetheless for 15.99 all you can eat. I believe it’s cheaper on certain days of the week. The buffet seating area looks kind of depressing and blocky, I’m surprised people aren’t running into each other all of the time. Everything was surprisingly pretty good based on what I was expecting. The salad was green and fresh, workers hovered to make sure everything was kept clean, the seafood was fresh and not fishy, and the desserts were pretty decent. I think if I were to actually do any gambling, which I don’t, I would at least travel a few more miles down the road to Talking Stick.

In a word — Dump.
From the second you walk in this place you are greeted by the nauseating oder of cigarette smoke, assuming your able to see through the smoke the next thing you will notice is this casinos horrid décor.
The Fort McDowell instantly makes you feel like your walked right into 1982. From the wood trim everywhere to the harsh bright colors this place is decorated with, everything about it exemplifies ugly and outdated. Just spending an hour in this place made me feel like I needed to re evaluate my life.
The thing that secured the 1 star they earned from me, THEY DONT HAVE WIFI. Wireless service (Att, Verizon) does not work here. Probably because it’s in the middle of nowhere and the signals can’t penetrate the building. It’s 2014, what business doesn’t have wifi? If you expect me to be in your establishment for hours, why must I be cut off from the modern world in order to do so?
Anyway, with casinos like Talking Stick among others that offer a modern, sexy experience, I’d never come back to the Fort McDowell.