I would give this Casino a much higher rating except for the very very very very very annoying issue that you have with jackpot handpays. They make you wait for 20 minutes to collect $200! I have met dozens of extremely annoyed casino patrons who have to wait over 20 minutes to collect $200 and they are betting $4 to $8 a spin! I dug into this and found the reason. Apparently, the casino staff hopes to collect a tip for every handpay and that is a major source of income! And for this they make the rest of their patrons suffer through long annoying waits.
One casino patron told me that he talked to the Slot Manager and she told him that she would never go into a casino that did not have lights blinking on many machines indicating jackpot payouts and that is why they set their limits to $200. What kind of crap is this? Does this slot manager have cowdung inside her head? Has she even visited the competition (Gila River Casinos, Harraha's Ak Chin Casino)? There the handpays are set out to much higher limits. If the casino has any sense they would fire this idiot slot manager and get someone on board that knows how to take care of their premium customers!
The management at this casino is regarded extremely lowly by the workers. Every single time I am there I hear things like "They have brought in people from Las Vegas to run this casino who don't understand a thing about the local gambling scene!" or "They have absolutely no clue what they are doing and patrons don't like 90% of their so-called promotions!"
On the positive side their buffet is GREAT. One of the very best and compares to finer Las Vegas casinos. I have heard rave reviews about their Orange bar on top floor. But everyone (I mean everyone!) complains about their liquor prices. An ordinary glass of very ordinary white wine costs as much $5.50 and yes you have to add a tip of the waitress will pass you by the next time without giving you attention!
To earn one more star I suggest the casino increase the handpay limit to say $500 and drop the price on liquor a bit to match the price at the their other casino (Casino Arizona at McKellips). It is cheaper at Casino Arizona McKellips and they should have the same price at Talking Stick. If that suit that is in charge of liquor pricing did some elementary demand/price thinking he/she may find that they could sell more and make more profits at a slightly lesser price! But then I have heard that the suits at Talking Stick are dingbats who have no absolutely no clue about the local market.