My GPS took me on a winding route through little neighborhoods of houses beat up by the hurricane. The GPS routes are certainly ways I would never experience with a map and directions. In fact, with a map and directions I doubt I would have located this little casino.

As it was the GPS said I had reached my destination and all I could see was deserted waterfront and the remnants of an old waterslide. So I called the Silver Slipper.

"Well, you are right near us, can't you see us." "Do you have a large balloon like bubble over the top of the casino?" "No, not really. Look, just take that road along the Gulf to the end and you will get to us."

So I did. Turns out they do have such a bubble, but it is not part of the casino, just a storage tank set back from the casino.

This route along the water is like no other road to any casino I have visited. There were some beaches and then I could be driving inches from deep Gulf water. I could have fished right off the side of the road.

Facing the water would be a stretch of wiped out house and then some workman rebuilding and then some finished beauty of a house all new and shiny and then some older place that somehow had missed damage.

The casino itself was right on the water. They did not need any fake pools at this place and the water was much more accessible than at Biloxi. You could walk from the casino parking lot to the shore and feel like you were off on a deserted island.

I came because they offered a great sign up bonus and advertised $3 rake for live poker. $3 is the best in that neck of the woods and beats all the rakes from Lake Charles, LA and up the Mississippi River to Caruthersville, Missouri.

The first free deal was free brignets and coffee in a little cafe. They were just as good as anything I had in the French Quarter of New Orleans. So I munched a while, and then headed over to the little poker room.

Well, I was too early. Not enough players for a game. They did have some little promotions. I believe they had aces cracked at certain times. But the good rake would go away soon.The poker room person told me they just did not make up in more people what they lost in revenue on a reduced rake. Too bad. You'd think that poker players would get the math of this, get it that it can mean up to $20 in their pocket every time they play. No, no, but they will all flock to the bingo bonus bad beat where instead of getting a buck or two back on each winning hand as you do with a $3 rake, they hand over a buck for a lottery like bet. A dollar and a dream. Just the poker is not enough for folks, they gotta have the big win in their fantasy lives.

Well, the casino was delightful. There was no good VP under the dollar level, but the place was friendly and small and I entertained myself with the freeplay while I waited for the buffet to open.

A reduced price buffet was also part of the free signup bonus. I expected something small and average like those small buffets in Vegas, but this was delightful with finely prepared dishes including some of the better catfish I have eaten. That made the trip.

They don't yet have a hotel which is ironic because they have to be far from any other hotel as well. I could see myself wandering back here to play poker and fish and just be by the water. I suppose in good weather more folks gather on the beaches than the handful I saw, but even so it would be a delightful spot.

For my signup I got a fine black Silver Slipper T shirt. The poker boys here in? Albany NY won't have one like that.

And then I needed to head out to Lake Charles and meet up with Louisiana Mudgiff Aligator Dan, the Silver Striking man, for a lesson in the correct way to peel boiled crawfish. But that is another story.

The Silver Slipper casino should be the model of how NOT to run a casino.

Pre-Katrina the owners of the President Casino in Biloxi, MS already had the Silver Slipper (barge) under construction and it was to be located in the Waveland area of MS. Lucky them as the President was destroyed by hurricane Katrina.

Now the marketing folks made a big deal of signing up for the Silver Slipper players club, etal on-line and you would get special status. Lots of promises. Sadly, no delivery.

As luck would have it, we visited the casino a few days after it opened.

What a total disappointment!!!

Let's forget, for the moment, that is out in NOWHEREVILLE!!!

Before leaving our home in Florida, we checked the Silver Slipper Website and and printed out the detailed driving directions found there. Right there was the first problem. Seems they left out a number. According to the PRINTED directions the casino was supposed to be something like .3 or .5 ,miles from the sign telling you to "turn here." It was one heck of a lot further. We kept driving and driving. We figured we missed something somewhere. Since it was a two lane road there were few opportunities to make a u-turn. Once we found a wide spot in the road and were ready to double-back, we [luckily] came across a sign for the casino.

Once we got there we found parking to be miserable!!! Very little paved area to park. The rest is sand and shell. We got lucky and found a spot not far from the entrance. There were security folks outside and present but not doing a very good job of directing folks to parking. The day was cold and blustery and that wasn't a thrill. Had we parked down a bit we would have gotten a nice sand whipping in our faces and lord knows what that would be doing to the paint on the car.

Once we got inside the casino we immediately went to the players club.

There was a sign directing us 'special folks' to a table that did have a computer and a card making machine but it was unmanned. We hung around for about 10 minutes and finally found someone to ask about some service. At that point we thought maybe the workers were on break or a nature call. No such luck. That table wouldn't be manned until about 11:00 a.m. or so and it was 9:00 a.m. then. We were ticked off. Had we got in the regular line, we would have finished our business and been on the floor playing. So, after another 20-minute wait we got our players cards and headed to the slots. At least that worker moved the sign so others wouldn't fall prey to it.

This gets better.

I placed my slot card in the normal way. That is with the hole for the cord out towards me. Nothing registered. Slot after slot, NOTHING or an error message appeared. Headed back to the player's club line which is now longer than before. This isn't going to work. Luckily, the lady who issued my card was stationed at the far left of the counter and when she was through with the patron she was serving I got her attention and complained. She stated "oh, you have to REVERSE the card." Thanks for telling me that up-front you dummy!!! Right now I am not in a great mood.

The slots were cold as ice. Now I generally like to play the tables but decided to start on the slots to see how the point system worked. While I don't recall right now how that casino does it (and I really don't care as I'll never re-visit the property), it certainly wasn't like the old President. The President was my most favorite casino in all of Biloxi which made my mood all the more dour.

Played for about 1/2 hour and never once did I hear or see a beverage server. I needed a hot coffee and a brandy to help me remove the chill I still had from the lousy weather outside so I headed to the tables thinking that the cocktail folks generally cover them like a blanket.

While I was scouting the tables, my wife came up to me and said "let's go!" This woman is a commensurate slot player. When she says "let's go" or "we're outta here" I know the slots are horrible w/o having to ask.

So, off to cash in my slot ticket I had in my shirt pocket.

Stood in line at the cashier and stood in line and stood there some more. Great!!! The computers are down! Mind you, this is about the 4th day they were open. Everything should be perfect. One lousy computer was up and running and the line was growing and growing.

I have to say the inside the casino is nice and it is tastefully appointed. Nicely lit as well. But it is brand new so one shouldn't expect less. We did not stay to eat so I can't rate the food. The casino, itself, was a lot smaller than I expected it to be and it has far too many video type slots than I like. But I guess that is the current rage and wave of the future. Give me a traditional 3-reeler any day - at least I don't need to wear my computer glasses to play them.

We visited the Silver Slipper in January, 2008 and really enjoyed it.

When we signed up for our player's cards, we were each given a free buffet, $25 free play, a T-shirt and deck of cards.

We felt like we were treated well. They are one of the few casinos that have self-serve soft drinks on the casino floor.

The machines seemed to pay better than most we had played on the Gulf Coast. Our free bufet was a Sunday Champagne brunch and was very good. There was a good variety of food, including fresh fruit.

The casino is located out in the middle of nowhere, but we had a map and could see it in the distance as we drove along the beach from Bay St. Louis.

Being from the midwest, we enjoyed the drive along the beach. We drove our 21 foot motor home and were not sure as to where to park and could not find anyone to direct us, so we parked in a paved lot along the beach with no problems. They do have a RV park that is kinda pricey. We told security where we had parked and they said it was fine.

We will definitely go back next time we get down to the Gulf.