I love playing bingo in Salamanca New York. Great games. Great prizes. The food is good and the people are friendly. read more

My brother's birthday and mine are a day apart. For a few years we had the tradition of going to Bingo together for our birthdays. Then the pandemic hit, and our tradition went on a hiatus. Until last weekend! We reignited our annual birthday pilgrimage to Bingo with a trip to Seneca Bingo in Salamanca, which is about an hour and fifteen minute scenic drive down the 219 from the Buffalo area. This is an old stomping ground for us. We grew up in the area, waiting for our mom to finish up Bingo at this very hall. But boy has it changed since circa 1998. Now Seneca Bingo is tech-modernized, to operate like a casino. When you arrive you have to stop at the reception to get a player's club card, even for Bingo. I don't like this formality, as it gives you all sorts of casino free play and bonuses that I am not interested in at all. Nor do I need anyone tracking my Bingo lifestyle, haha. But we did receive a $10 discount on our first Bingo purchase, and $5 for anytime the rest of the month for a birthday perk. Bingo here is expensive, so after the rigmarole of signing up for the player's club card, those discounts were appreciated. The Bingo room is down the hall from the casino room. The casino room allows for smoking (blech), the Bingo hall does not (phew). But you do get some wafting smells, if your nose is sensitive like mine. I'm partial to a light and bright Bingo hall, which is what I remember this one to be. But now it is dimmer casino lighting, with dark carpets and fixtures. Meh', not a fan. But it is spacious with reasonably comfortable seats at big tables with room to spread out. Just outside of the Bingo hall is the concession stand. The concessions were actually pretty great, with 25-cent bottomless coffee and hot tea, and a variety of hot foods and cold grab-and-go's. The grab-and-go case had some good looking salads that were about $7 each. The hot line had made-to-order burgers, hot dogs, and finger foods, most things priced about $4 - $7 a piece. I just had hot tea this time. My brother got a coffee and some potato cheese balls, which were like a round tater tot that was cheesy. They give you a pager and buzz you when your fresh-made food is ready. His potato cheese balls portion was pretty decent, and they were crispy, hot, and tasty. Gotta' love how a casino takes all of your money in the gambling rooms, but gives you a pretty good deal on the snacks! :-D In the Bingo hall there are booths up front to buy your boards. General admission is $52. Yup, you heard right, $52! That includes boards for every game in the session, but no early birds or warm-ups. Warm-ups are $2 each, early birds are $5 each. There are several games in the regular session that are 3-card pages, which you get one of in your general admission. But you can purchase more of those for $2 to $3 each. They also sell electronic Bingo boards. I never play electronic, Bingo is my time to detach from the screen. But I think electronic started at about $70 and up. The majority of the crowd here plays paper, which I found to be a comforting throw-back to simpler times. ;-) So yeah, general admission and buying extra boards adds up quick here! BUT ... the payouts here for regular games are MUCH HIGER than any local Bingo or Canadian Bingo. Most regular games are a $1000 payout! Regular games! Big money here for the Bonanza game is usually over $10K, it was over $13K when we played. The regular jackpot game is minimum $1200, with higher payouts starting at $3000 if you win in less numbers. Even the progressives and pot splits were several hundred dollars. So you pay to play, but you are walking away with well over your break-even if you win any regular game. So the big question ... did I win?? ... Drum roll please ... Brrrrrrrrrrrr ... NOPE! Haha, it was not my lucky day. But my brother won the very first early bird game of the session. Early birds pay out a split based on early bird sales, and he won $80. So he broke even, plus a bit! Until he blew it all in the casino room after the game, ha! I would have walked with my $20 surplus, but that's my bro, ha! We played in the casino room for maybe fifteen minutes, which was plenty of time for me to use my $15 free play and call it quits, and my brother to blow through his $15 free play and the rest of his Bingo winnings. Probably best to avoid this room altogether if you come for Bingo. ;-) Overall, my brother and I had a fun time at Seneca Bingo. The hall was comfortable enough, the games are actually fun (lots of unusual shapes like "bench", "callers chair", "star diamond", etc.), the concession was priced right and pretty good, and if you are lucky enough to win, the regular games pay out BIG. When we feel like dropping $50+ a piece to play Bingo again, we'll be back, hopefully even luckier next time! :-D read more

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A great place to play! We had so much fun there it is not far from the town, of Ellicottville. We would highly recommend this casino to play at. Enjoy and good luck! read more

Use to be a fun game, started going downhill when they did away with the car special, computers made it very competitive, less games, higher prices, even the food went downhill. Use to go 4 to 5 times a week, not anymore, done for now! read more

Staff is rude, patrons are rude. Payouts are small and that is being generous. I have been a memeber for afew years now and not once have I even come close to breaking even on anyone of my weekly visits. And the one jackpot I did win for 523$ was demanding I pay back because it was "paid out in error". I had deposited 100 dollars hit a jackpot so my pay out was 623$ they had the nerve to ask I pay 623$ or they would pursue legal action. Thieves, liars and cheats. I will not be returning anytime. My money and your money are best spent at the large casino down the road. Atleast there you may get free play or a free night's stay at their hotel to lesser the sting of losing money. The staff there is always pleasant and large variety of food. read more