I have been going to the Hard Rock Casino since 2006. Back then, the slots were Class II, bingo slots. I would win huge jackpots occasionally, although it took hours. The most was $50,000. on a Lotto Machine, although the Asians seemed to know when jackpot time would come and would "camp out" on machines. The most I would spend back then was $500-1000 per visit, but would always have enough to play for hours, and sometimes win a good jackpot. I would come home with 4 or 5 jackpot slips averaging $1500. Once the slots were changed to Class III "Vegas Style" slots, I began to lose. They slowly removed the "big jackpot" bingo slots, and replaced them with fancy Vegas style machines with all the bell and whistles, but NO JACKPOTS. There was a time when you would hear bells ringing and clerks running around with jackpot slips. Now, that is NON-EXISTENT. I used to travel to the Ft. Lauderdale Hard Rock and it appeared TIGHT. Employees would say Tampa was the best. NOT ANYMORE!!!! I have the Highes Level VIP Players Club Card with over 3,000,000 points of play accumulated over the years. I receive $500 a week in freeplay, BUT....I dont win! Even when I do, a Hi-Limit slot of $25-50 a spin, will payout $1200-2100 average. So I stopped playing in Hi-Limits and went to 2 cent machines, where I can occasionally win a $3,000. jackpot playing MAX BET.

Due to my VIP status, I pay nothing for drinks, food or hotel rooms, but now I spend an average of $5,000 per visit a few times a month. They gave me an I=Pad and a Gucci Watch, but compared to the $200,000 I spent there last year its a drop in the bucket. The Staff and amenities are great, but the new hotel theyve been promising has not even broken ground. They keep expanding the number of slots, and are always building new parking to accomodate the MALL LIKE crowds.

Bottom line--- If you come to the Hard Rock for fun, youll have a great time. If you come to Gamble, BE CAREFUL !!!!

I've played blackjack in many casinos and the Hardrock Tampa is one of the worst. Everything they do differently screams cheesy sleezy and out to take more money from you. There are no free drinks, and in fact their prices are outrageously high. They up the minimum betting amount to $25 early in the evening on all but one table. The $10 table is left alone and it's always packed with people waiting in line to sit down. They had a $5 minimum bet special one time trying to attract more players, and they changed the blackout payout at those tables from 2-1 to even money, guess they just weren't making enough. They don't understand that they are in the entertainment business and not necessarily the gambling business.

The Seminoles have no nearby competition, so the slots here are very tight. You rarely see or hear any winners. Despite that, the casino has no shortage of customers. Try to avoid going around the first of the month as the place is packed with Seniors blowing their Social Security and disability checks. Kinda sad when you think about it...

The buffet upstairs is very good, probably the best thing about the place. You can save $5 at the buffet if you have a players card.

Like the others here have said, if you want play, take your money someplace else. Unfortunately, there is no other casino for a few hundred miles.

I've been to many casinos during my lifetime, in and out of the country, but never ever have I found a casino that rips off customers like the Hard Rock in Tampa does. The payouts are ridiculously low and seldom occur unless there is some rare publicity stunt orchestrated to attract attention. Some patrons seem to accept the excuse that casinos in Florida can't provide free drinks, but talking about a rip off, why is it then necessary for the Hard Rock to charge extremely high prices for alcohol drinks? ... The answer is pure greed and whether Florida allows free drinks or not, it's obvious the Hard Rock could care less, because they won't miss any chance to empty your wallet as fast as they can by any means possible. Enjoy a nice vacation to Vegas instead because with what you can save by avoiding a quick trip to the Hard Rock casino in Tampa, you'll likely have more than enough savings to buy round trip airfare tickets to Vegas and enjoy casinos there, who actually appreciate your business.

I go to the casino 2-3 times a week. I've had limited success in the past, I just want a fair shot at winning. Since the construction has started on the new casino you cannot win. They might as well have a jar at the entrances for you to put your money in with a sign thanking you. I just wish they thanked me once in awhile. Slots are tight and forget about Blackjack, they constantly change decks and you never get a feeling for what's left in the shoe. Tampa Bay Downs is open, at least I can look at the horses.

On one progressive that starts at $10,000 and normally hits around $13,000, the prize recently ran up to $29,000 with a constant lineup of players hoping to be the lucky one. This machine must have taken in over a million for the house as it never hits for very much as it just sucks player after player dry. Just yesterday, I saw an attendant taking the machine out of service (it was in working order) and asked why it was being shut down. He said it wasn't working and had to be shut down. Just five minutes later it was up and running again. It looked to me like the attendant was just adjusting some switches inside the machine when he had it open. Within the next hour, it magically managed to hit the progressive. I think it looked fairly obvious that the machine was taken out of "kill" mode so that one of the house's insiders could take the pot. There are several machines throughout the house that just keep going up and up, some to many times the starting jackpot. I suggest you stay away from these machines unless you are a special guest of the casino that's tipped off to them being "fixed" up for you.

I live about 1 and 1/2 hrs away so I am not able to go but once a month. The casino will send me anywhere from $40 or more in Free Play money and vouchers for food and property credit.

Now, this is how to take full advantage of your free Play. Only use $10 at a time. Everytime you hit, cash out. You will get a voucher for your winnings and the casino' free play is still in the machine. I mean CASH OUT, even if it's for 20 cents. Keep doing this until all their Play money is used up.

Don't put any of you money in the machine. Now look at your tickets. I will bet that you have at least $5-$8 from their $10. This is YOUR money now.

If the machine's lucky, keep playing it by adding another $10 from your PROMO account. I did this last weekend with $140 Free Play that they had sent me. I had a wad of tickets, some 20 cents, 50 cents, etc, but after I was all done with their money, I had a total of about $140 of winnings that I could keep as mine.

Find a machine away from the crowd and start inserting your wad of tickets. After all are added up, cash out. Go to a cashier or a 'TicketExchange' machine and get your money.

If you are lucky, the Free Play that they sent you - is now all yours!! That's what I do.

Play the 25 cent machines with 3 reels, for 5 coins. not the 'Fun" games like "I love Lucy", remember you are here to parlay their $$ into YOUR pocket.

Play the Fun Games another time!!

Have fun, I do.

1. This Casino has over 4,100 SLOT MACHINES!!!! I love the slots. .01cents and up! High Limit rooms.
2. I am not a big money player and have won many times.
I won $365 on a 2-cent machine after putting $20 in and playing it down just to $10.
I then won $70 and $40 on the same machine within minutes.
I win all the time just playing $20 in 1 & 2 cents machine. My husband put $2 in $1 wheel of fortune machine and won $30 on 2nd spin! Winning is luck, remember that. No one is ever guaranteed to win when gambling.
3. Seeing others win, plenty! Every visit I see big winners. $3000, $6000, $2100. $500, $600.
4. They do provide free water, soda, diet soda. IN FLORIDA, it is not legal for the casino to give free alcohol.
5. FREE play and free cash drawings, coupons. They give me plenty. MLK DAY they gave us 10x points on play!

Im a Florida native. Been going to Tampa Hard Rock now and then. have never won anything. had my players card for 10 years and have NO points on it at all. I never see anyone win anything. Put $20 into a nickle machine and in 5 minutes won nothing. The minimum play on a 5 cent machine is $2.00 with how the machines are configured. If you cash out to get your money back, the ticket is worthless and their cashiers can never read the ticket for your money. Other machines cant recognize the ticket. Ive been to Vegas and after 4 hours at the Mirage, was comped for 4 free dinners. Ive yet to get a free cracker out of the hard rock. Indians scalp you in more ways than one.

Where are the video Poker Machines? It seemed I walked around forever to find a nice spot for Video Poker Machines...Plenty of other slots that my wife enjoyed, as I won money, cause I didn't play much. The food is average at best.

Tight doesn't even begin to describe the horrific greed of the Seminoles as they enjoy their completely unregulated monopoly on their slots. They are under construction in Tampa to add more buildings and machines, and they are obviously not spending a dime of their own money to do it. It's really disheartening to see them rolling their huge refrigerator-sized boxes of money off of the casino floor at night as you're praying to just win a fraction of your money back. And don't get in the way of them doing that because their security guards are incredibly rude to the patrons.
I have spun the high-limit $5 and $10 slots thousands of times (over $250,000 easily played) and have never once won a jackpot of over $1,200. I've only hit twice for $1,000 after all that spinning. The other day, I stopped playing one $5 machine after 40 spins of zero payout. Usually, 40 spins will get me a couple of cherries and one or two mixed bars. Last trip, I lost $10,000 and the best hit in high limits was for only $125. On one $5 machine, I "won" a bunch of "free spins" that paid a whopping $9.
Yes, I definitely have a problem in that I love to play slots and this is the only game in town since the state is allowing the Seminoles to have a monopoly on land-based casinos (politicians are in their pocket!). A few years back, I took a 1-year self-exclusion to give my wallet a break. Upon being allowed back in, they setup my Players Card to let me easily win for about the first week. I mean $20 put into a machine would win $2000 or $3000 jackpot right away. Since then, they only would allow my card to have the "juice" on my birthday. In high limits, there are winners on the $100 machines that make for a great display. But when you're spinning $200-300 a pop, you should have to stop for a hand pay now and then.
Since my players card is obviously programmed to not allow me to win in high limits, I've been playing the 1 and 2-cent progressives a lot. But a couple of months ago, they said they were shutting down the machines to reprogram them. Even before they did that, all of those machines would just keep going up and up. One one bank of machines I've been drawn into, none of the progressives starting at $300 or $1000 has gone off in the past 6 months. They are all running up to 7 or 8 times of what they should really be going off at. Since that reprogramming, they just simply won't pay a dime at all.
Yes, you can win some money if you find a $1 Blazing 7s machine that someone just pumped thousands of dollars into. They appear to be programmed to not let those that pump in the cash to win. Only those that follow the big pumpers manage to get some of their dough after they've been wiped out.
Lastly, if you go there and get a hand pay, be careful to recover your drivers license that they insist on taking to the back room. Twice now, they purposely did not return my license to make me have to later return to the casino. Last time, I was still in the casino for a while (with my card in a machine) and they could have easily found me to return it. Instead, when I later found the attendant to request it back, they insisted that they did not keep it, only to eventually give in and return it to me after I got really upset with them.

As a regular customer at the Hard Rock Tampa here is my review

Positives..

Size of the Casino... It's a very large casino. Having been to Vegas it's right up there with the rest of em.

Slot Machines...There are tons of slot machines (2,000 plus) of all denominations. There are some old ones as well as all the new video ones. I have never complained about lack of slots or slot over crowding there. I have also read reviews on here and other sites on how some people feel their slots are extra tight. I don't believe that to be true at all. I have been out to Vegas many times and see no difference there than at the Hard Rock.. All slots are on the ticket system and have ticket kiosks throughout the casino for people to avoid standing in line at the cashier.

Smoking... I am a smoker so I am happy that smoking is still acceptable in casinos in Florida.

Players Club... I get a bunch of free play coupons in the mail all the time and I love to use them. Usually I am sent at least $80 to $100 in free play per month and the dates they are valid are somewhat flexible. They also have a day every month where you choose a guaranteed prize from a table of cash or free play.

Location.... It's easy to find and easy to get to in Tampa. The location near I-75 and I-4 is good for quick highway access.


Negatives

Drinks......Drinks are not free to those gambling but I do believe this is Florida law and not the casino's decision. The staff does offer free soda and coffee instead.

Cost of Drinks.... I have never paid $24 for a couple long island ice teas anywhere else in my life. Add a tip to that and it's even worse. 12 oz bud light bottles are $4.50 and draft beer $5.50. You would think that they could give us a break on the booze - we're spending a lot in their casino. The center bar does run a beer special of $2.50 per bottle of usually a cheaper domestic brew ( High Life, etc).

Parking... Its like the mall at Christmas time most weekend night trying to find a parking spot.

The slots here are very, very tight. There may be a few very small wins but you can lose thousands here with only a few cherries and bars coming back. They are the only game in town and it shows. Walk around the casino and it will be hours before you see a hand pay and then it is only in the $800-$900 range. Better to give your money to the doorman then to venture into the high limits area. Nothing but boom - money gone. Nothing to play with. You never hear any screams because no one wins. The second hand smoke is also very bad if you don't smoke. Stay away from here. The play is better in any Mississippi casino then this one.

So you sell cigarettes cheap - so you allow the very minority of smokers to kill your business. Very stupid.

Players pay for drinks! Very stupid. A free drinking player is happy to fork over the money. But a paying drinker will not return. You are headed for closure.

Most people love to gamble in a safe, healthy, low risk, friendly environment, and do not mind losing to such. This is proven over and over by the world's leading casinos. However, you provide an unhealthy, high risk, unfriendly, unsafe environment. So you will not last long. The only reason you are in business now is that you are the only game in town, but that will change soon.

This is just friendly advice from one who seeks to keep you on top of the game, and hopes to see some changes soon, before the competition arrives. Good luck, and best wishes.

We go there 2 to 3 times per month sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but always enjoy it. The restaurants are all great and we normally get food or property credit to cover my meals along with some free play. For all the reviews that say you can't win there and how much better it is in Biloxi just one comment - Casinos always favor the house regardless of where you go. We go to Biloxi, Vegas, and have been to Atlantic City and Reno. None pay any better or any worse. They are all the same. The two biggest jackpots for me have come at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa $1,500 and $4,000. The most we have ever won in Biloxi was $1,200 and that was after 5 visits to Biloxi and losing close to $8,000 over those 5 visits. Never have hit anything over $300 in vegas, nothing at all in Atlantic City or Reno. When it comes to casinos, this casino is just like all the others as far as win/loss and much better in the restaurants and atmosphere as Biloxi, Reno or Atlantic City and better than most in Vegas. Gave the table games a 5 based on friends and how busy they are we do not play table games.

This was my first time going to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. I am a Tampa native and had always wanted to go. My boyfriend took me with $100. We played for about 30mins and we were done.

He lost all of his money. I walked out of the casino with $125. While I did not lose, I didn't impressively win either. Disappointed. I will not be going back because my boyfriend had to watch me play for 20mins and he did not have any fun.

I go to the Hard Rock at least 4 times or more a month. I have won quite a few good jackpots $1000, $3,000 and $9,000 and I usually only take $250 with me. I must be one of the few judging from the other comments, but I have seen many good payouts $1400, and more there. I also heard someone just won over $300,000 on a 2 cent machine. I have had good luck there so I can't complain.

My wife,myself and 84 year old mother-in-law really enjoy everything about this casino as well in Hollywood, fl. I play in the High Stakes room on $100 and $25 machines. The payouts have been GREAT!

If you have money to waste and don't feel like donating it; then please DO go to the Hard Rock. I can assure you, you will lose your money before you can ask yourself, 'what am I doing here?".

You're better off going to the horse races. Even if you lose, at least it will take you at least 4 or 5 hours and you will have fun doing it. I usually only put $20 at a time and believe me, it goes in less than 5 minutes (and this is playing the 2-cent machine and only betting the lowest pull).

If you don't believe me, before playing, just walk around for 5 to 10 minutes and see how many people are winning and how many people are losing. You will find that 99.9% of the time, the people are losing. Incredible. So please AVOID this casino; it is not worth it.

For anyone coming to the Hard Rock in Tampa for the first time, let a Tampa native like myself tell you that you need to be prepared to LOSE. Yes, the occasional win hits, and like every other player you will have HOPE that it will be you. Well, it probably won't be. However, there is a big difference between the Tampa Hard Rock and every other casino. At the Tampa Hard Rock, you can't even make your money last. Part of the allure of gambling is the ups that go along with the downs. At the hard rock, its pretty much downs. I know many people who have gone there and just gave up and never go back. The slots are among the absolute TIGHTEST I have ever seen. Why? Because they have no competition. You can't just decide to walk/drive down the street to another casino like in Vegas, Biloxi or even Atlantic City. There isn't another casino within 200 miles! Basically its a monopoly- they know they have a captive audience and can empty your wallet without any effort.

The players club is the worst as well- the money I have spent in Biloxi has gotten me free flights and free rooms. The money I spent in Vegas got me free rooms, all meals comped, free tickets to shows, etc. And at all of these places you get something the hard rock doesn't provide- free drinks. Yes, they charge upwards of $8 per drink before tip. What do you get for your play at the hard rock? A point system that will basically require you to gamble like $100,000 to get a cheap coffee maker. It is insane. So if you are going to gamble at the Hard Rock Tampa, all I can do is WISH you good luck. Lord knows you are gonna need it.

Indian casinos are not regulated by their respective states. Thus, you get very puny payouts. For example, the 3 Florida non-Indian casinos are required by law to payout at least 85%.

In Indian casinos, you're lucky if you can get a cup of coffee, especially if you play for any length of time. You want a better chance to win, then go to state regulated casinos.

I have gone to Seminole Hard Rock Casino twice and had a hard time finding Video Poker Machines! They must have 150 slot machines for every Video Poker machine. I don't know how many slot machines they have but after searching the entire casino floor I found probably only 50-55 Poker machines, and it seems all of them are being played.

In order to play one, a person must stand in back of the players and wait for an opening. It is very frustrating to stand there for 30-45 minutes and have someone leave and you're not close enough to grab the seat.

The pay schedules are 8-5's, 7-5's & 6-5's, which aren't the best ! I have probably played a total of 4 hours and have had only 1 Four of a kind!!!!! Way too many losing hands! I don't believe I will go back.

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My daughter and I go there about once a week or so to get a VP and V Keno"fix" between Vegas trips.

But we go with the undertanding that we are probably just giving the Seminole Tribe a donation. The machines are VERY TIGHT. We occasionally get a good win, but consider it a good day if we go out the door with close to what we took to play with. The most I have won is $500, and she has won $800. But those kinds of payouts are rare.

We don't play table games, and do not stay at the hotel, since we are locals.

The food at the buffet is excellent, and we are lucky enough to get slot club coupons every month for 2 buffets apiece, and "free play" coupons of $10 for 2 visits a month. We make sure to use them, as we feel like we have earned them! The food court food is pretty good, but a little pricy.

Too bad it's the only casino in the area, because they might pay a little better if there was some local competition.

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Living two hours away, we've gone to Seminole Hard Rock when time available was too short to go to Biloxi or elsewhere. They have more slots than most other casinos in the country. Too bad they do not payback. I added almost 100,000 points to my players club card in about 18 months. I won three small jackpots, $1,400, $900 and $600 in that time period. I did receive mailers every month for 2 free room nights per month, and $40 in free play per month, along with free meals and free property credit. However, never do you win just a little back to keep playing. We will not go back to Seminole Hard Rock, regardless of the "free" coupons. You pay ten times over for those "freebies".

I usually go to this casino once or twice a month. It is a rip off and I stopped going. Every casino in the country and I have been to most locations give free drinks while gaming. my advice is to not buy drinks. if everyone did that maybe they will get a clue.

HI: I GO TO TAMPA HARDROCK ONCE A MONTH BY BUS. TO ME IT IS ENTERTAINMENT.

I AM NOT A DRINKER. AND I HAVE NOT PAYED FOR A MEAL YET. I RECEIVE COMPS IN THE MAIL EACH MONTH. I PLAY THE SLOTS THEY NOW HAVE CLASS III LAS VEGAS STYLE SLOTS 80% TYPE 3 & 20% BINGO TYPE 2.

IN THE LAST TWO OUTING BY BUS I HAVE TAKEN HOME $1,800 IN WINNINGS. WHY DRIVE TO BILOXI WHEN I CAN GET MY FIX AT HARDROCK TAMPA. TAKE CARE DOWNTOWN

Play all day and drop a few hundred bucks and what do you get? The time of day and that's about it. Wanna a free drink? Go to Biloxi or Vegas cause you are not getting them here. Want a free meal? Maybe at the hamburger joint, but not at the good restaurant. Don't even ask about a room comp -- that doesn't exist.



After 2 years of occasional play I found out I had 7,800 points on my cards. Wanna know what I got for all those points? Absolutely nothing, that's what. The cheapest points gift starts at about 15,000 points and goes up quickly from there.



I'll spend the extra gas and go to Biloxi.

You don't win, anything, not like the old days. You could play for awhile on casino money.

I was a slot supervisor and a few years back you could win some to keep playing.

Now all the casinos are very tight, even in Vegas, the only casinos I found that pay are in Biloxi, you still give it back, but I have hit some good jackpots there. Good Luck, you are going need it.

Stay away from this "dog" of a casino. I was there with a group and none of us found our first visit enjoyable.

There is an extreme lack of winning in the place. I frequent Las Vegas, Tunica, Biloxi, Cherokee, Atlantic City, Laughlin, Reno, and Tahoe. I will never visit this joint again.

Even in the line to get a Players Card, repeat players were complaining about how "tight" the machines are in Tampa. WARNING: PLAYING IN TAMPA MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR GAMING HEALTH

My husband and I moved here from CA where we used to go to the Native American Casinos there.



They were fabulous and one could spend the whole day just enjoying the casino.

I took my husband to the Seminole, Hard Rock Casino, Tampa for his birthday and he had $200 to spend. He won absolutely nothing.



He was so surprised as all the games he played paid out nothing except a couple of dollars here and there. Also, when I walked around the floor, there were no winner noises and I watched many people playing and none seemed to be winning anything.



We have decided not to go there again and from talking to many people here, they are not enamoured of the Casino either. One lady I spoke to said,' Oh, you didn't go there, it's awful and you can't win anything. You just go in and give them your money and leave.'



She said all the Indian Casinos here are only interested in taking all the money they can for no fun.