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Atlantic City Blahs

Garden State gamblers once again preferred to stay home and wager, as iGaming managed to handily outgross Atlantic City. Also, sports books were spectacularly unlucky, as World Cup bettors continued to take them to the cleaners. Casinos in Atlantic City were flat, year/year, as a 1.5% uptick in slot win was negated by a 6.5% sinkage at the tables. Despite a 6% reversal, Borgata was tops (of course) with $72 million. Hard Rock Atlantic City was up a point to $46 million, while Ocean Casino Resort was close behind at $43.5 million (flat).

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Las Vegas Advisor Happy Hours This Week: July 15, 2026

Las Vegas Advisor Happy Hours This Week July 15, 2026

Three recommended happy hours this week including the only vegan happy hour on the Strip. Two dollar sushi from a chef who trained under Morimoto and whose restaurant other chefs eat at on their nights off. And the only outdoor patio in Southwest Las Vegas with pastrami salmon and $4 beers. Different concepts, different menus, one standard. All verified, all worth it.

New this week: The Board is our weekly roundup of limited-time promotions, dining events, and specials that are not on the permanent menu but absolutely worth your attention. If it is fun, foodie, and happening this week, it is on The Board. More on that below.

🌿 Crossroads Kitchen | Resorts World Las Vegas

Daily 5–6 PM (Bar and Lounge Only) · 3000 S Las Vegas Blvd

Crossroads Kitchen Happy Hour Resorts World

Here is the context: Crossroads Kitchen is the only fully plant-based fine dining restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. Not plant-forward. Not vegan-friendly. Entirely plant-based, from a kitchen founded by acclaimed Chef Tal Ronnen — whose original Los Angeles location has been one of the most talked-about vegan restaurants in the country since 2013. The majority of Crossroads customers, by most accounts, are not vegan. They are just people who recognize good food.

The happy hour menu has four food items and everything is $10. The Impossible Cigars with spicy almond milk yogurt are the signature dish and the right place to start. The Calamari Fritti — made from mushroom, served with lemon and a spicy diablo sauce — is the kind of dish that stops the conversation. The cocktail program is equally considered: the Sweet Leaf, made with gin or vodka, Chareau (a plant-based aloe vera spirit), and cucumber syrup, is one of the more interesting happy hour drinks on the Strip right now.

The window is one hour. Resorts World has free parking for locals. Do not let either of those details be the reason you missed it.

Order this: Impossible Cigars + Calamari Fritti + Sweet Leaf cocktail. All $10 each. That is a complete happy hour at the only plant-based fine dining restaurant on the Strip for $30.

Where: Resorts World Las Vegas, 3000 S Las Vegas Blvd · (702) 676-7978

🔥 Crossroads Kitchen on Neonfeast
🌎 Crossroads Kitchen Website
🍸 Crossroads Kitchen Happy Hour

🍣 Other Mama | Southwest Las Vegas (Durango)

Daily 5–6 PM · Late Night Fri & Sat 10 PM–Midnight · 3655 S Durango Dr

Other Mama Happy Hour Las Vegas

Chef Dan Krohmer trained under Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, spent years immersed in Japanese culinary culture, and then opened a raw bar and sushi restaurant in a Southwest Las Vegas strip mall. That decision tells you everything about his priorities. Other Mama has been a neighborhood institution for nearly a decade, consistently named among the best off-Strip restaurants in Las Vegas by Eater, The Infatuation, and Las Vegas Weekly. It is where other chefs eat on their nights off. The happy hour is where everyone else catches up.

$2 nigiri. $5 hand rolls. $5 draft beer. Half-price sake. All dining areas included — not just the bar. The chalkboard lists the daily catch for fish and oysters and is the first thing worth reading when you sit down. The French toast caviar, which started as a chalkboard special and proved so popular it became a permanent fixture, is the dish most regulars mention first.

If you miss the 5–6 PM window, the Friday and Saturday late night happy hour from 10 PM to midnight gives you a second chance. There are very few happy hours in Las Vegas where missing the first window is not a real loss. This is one of them.

Order this: Start with the chalkboard. Order whatever fish is fresh that day. Add the French toast caviar. Order $2 nigiri until you run out of reasons to stop.

🔥 Other Mama on Neonfeast
🌎 Other Mama Website
🍸 Other Mama Happy Hour

🥩 Butcher & Thief | The Bend, Southwest Las Vegas

Daily 3–5:30 PM · The Bend, Southwest Las Vegas

Butcher and Thief Happy Hour

Butcher & Thief is a relatively recent addition to The Bend — the Southwest Las Vegas dining and entertainment hub — but the kitchen runs like it has been doing this for years. The outdoor patio wraps around the restaurant and is the kind of space that makes happy hour feel like a proper occasion rather than an afterthought.

The pastrami salmon is the dish nobody else in the southwest is doing. That is not a figure of speech — Happy Hour Vegas has not found it on another happy hour menu in the valley. The $4 beers on the patio complete the picture. The happy hour starts at 3 PM, which means you can be done before dinner and still feel like you won the afternoon.

Order this: Pastrami salmon + $4 beer on the patio. That is the Butcher & Thief happy hour in two items and it is not a complicated decision.

Where: The Bend, Southwest Las Vegas

🔥 Butcher & Thief on Neonfeast
🌎 Butcher & Thief Website
🍸 Butcher & Thief Happy Hour

📋 The Board: Top 3 Dining Promotions This Week

Not happy hours but limited-time promotions, events, and specials happening right now that are worth knowing about. Game day menus, chef collaborations, one-night events, and deals with an expiration date. If it is fun, foodie, and happening this week, it is on The Board.

🏎️ F1 Arcade | Forum Shops at Caesars Palace
50% off food, drinks, and games for Nevada locals. Show your Nevada ID and get half off everything at one of the most entertaining venues on the Strip. This promotion runs through August — the clock is ticking.
👉 See the listing on Happy Hour Vegas

🍸 Hearthstone | Red Rock Resort | Tini Mondays
$7 martinis starting at 4 PM every Monday. Stack this on top of their regular Monday happy hour and you have one of the better reasons to leave the house in Summerlin on a Monday. Seven dollar martinis at a resort restaurant is the whole pitch and it is a good one.
👉 See the Tini Mondays promo

🦪 Basilica | Southwest Las Vegas | $1 Oysters every Wednesday
6–9 PM or until sold out. One dollar per oyster. Until they run out. Wednesday just became your new standing appointment.
👉 See the Basilica specials

🎷 SPONSOR: Jazz Outreach Initiative

Jazz Vegas Orchestra Live at Notoriety

Wednesday, August 5 · Notoriety at Neonopolis · Fremont Street, Downtown Las Vegas · Doors 7 PM · Tickets $25

Big band jazz. Downtown Las Vegas. First Wednesday of every month. The Jazz Vegas Orchestra performs live at Notoriety at Neonopolis and August 5 is the next one. Every dollar supports the Jazz Outreach Initiative, which puts instruments in the hands of Las Vegas kids learning to play music. Great venue, great band, and Fremont Street has no shortage of pre-show happy hours nearby. Come be a regular part of the hang.

🎟️ Get tickets at Notoriety

Three Happy Hours. All Verified. All Worth It.

Resorts World. Southwest Durango. The Bend. None of these require a reservation for happy hour. All three are open this week. Happy Hour Vegas tracks current menus and hours across 493 verified venues — what you see here is confirmed and current.

👉 Browse the full Las Vegas Advisor Happy Hours directory verified happy hours with updated menus, hours, and prices across the valley.

Explore Happy Hours by Neighborhood:
 🎰 The Strip · 🌴 Summerlin · 💋 Downtown · ⛳ Henderson · 🎨 Arts District · ✳️ Southwest · 🌵 Off Strip · 🌄 Centennial

Explore Happy Hours by Category:
 🇮🇹 Italian · 🍣 Sushi · 🦪 Oyster · 🇫🇷 French · 🥩 Steak · 💎 Hidden Gems · 🌹 Date Night · 🙈 Speakeasy · 🍷 Wine · 🇲🇽 Mexican · 💸 Deals · ☀️ Weekend · 🍆 Vegetarian · 🍖 BBQ · 🥦 Healthy

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How Much Is Enough?

Having failed to kill the golden goose that is sports betting, the Illinois government is threatening to throttle it some more. Sports wagering has been very good for the Land of Lincoln, generating $1 billion over the past three years. That would include the lucre from Gov. J.B. Pritzker‘s egregious per-bet fee ($219 million captured), which gets passed on to hapless consumers. It’s also had the effect of driving down the number of bets placed in Illinois, quite understandably.

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What It Feels Like to Me

Bob Dancer

In the past few years, I’ve played single-line NSU Deuces at several different casinos — for a variety of stakes. Since four deuces come about every 5,355 hands on average, and I’ve played hundreds of thousands of hands, I’ve hit four deuces multiple thousands of times.

Recently I hit them for $2 stakes at the South Point, $5 stakes at Harrah’s Cherokee, and for $10 and $25 stakes at the Eldorado in Reno — before they discouraged me from playing there anymore. Earlier in my career I hit thousands of sets of them for quarters and dollars as well.

The recent jackpots, for 1,000 coins per set of deuces, were for $2,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000, respectively.

It seems obvious that a $25,000 set of deuces would feel five times as good as a $5,000 set of deuces and 12½ as good as a $2,000 set. 

Obvious or not, that’s not how it is for me. Basically, a set of deuces feels about the same to me for any of these stakes. It’s a good feeling, to be sure, but also one I’ve experienced many thousands of times. I’m not blasé about each of these jackpots — but they’re not that big of a deal.

I’m not saying that anybody else should or should not feel the way I do about this, but it strikes me as odd that a $25,000 jackpot feels the same as a $2,000 jackpot, and I thought I’d share this with my readers.

I’m sure there’s some sort of a stakes factor to these feelings. The South Point used to have nickel Hundred Play machines, $25 fully loaded, and playing those machines, I used to hit several sets of deuces (at $50 apiece) per hour. When I was dealt three deuces (which happened more than once per hour), the average sets of deuces I’d receive was about four. Getting seven or eight sets (pretty unusual) would feel pretty good. Getting zero (also pretty unusual) would feel like a swing and a miss. Most of the time it was somewhere in between.

There have been times in my career when I overplayed my bankroll, and hitting a big jackpot when doing so felt pretty special. When Shirley and I together hit that $400,000 royal flush some 25 years ago, that was a life-changing event and felt like it. That was definitely not business as usual.

I think part of the reason behind these feelings is that I’ve been a winning player for more than three decades and have built up a sizeable bankroll. The day-to-day scores — plus and minus — do not affect my standard of living. I’m confident my “system” works. When I was just starting out and didn’t have that confidence, or the financial resources to fall back on, each jackpot was celebrated. Not so much anymore.

I’m close to 80 years old now and my video poker skills are definitely deteriorating. And the edges found in these games are gradually decreasing over time. Whether I will still be a winning player the last year I’m alive is an open question. It’s easy for me to imagine it either way. 

I suspect I’ll be able to recognize the point where I’m not a winning player anymore — but I’m not sure. There will always be winning days and losing days and how they all add up for any given year is unknowable until I actually go through that year.

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Whiners & Crybabies

Slots A Fun $2 Deals 1

You’ve got to hand it to the operators of Missouri‘s black-market slot routes. They’ve certainly got nerve. It doesn’t matter that a federal judge ruled the machines to be illegal, nor that state Attorney General Catherine Hanaway ordered the games removed nor that the FBI is lurking in the wings. No, by golly, they’ve got a right to break the law, they say. The brassiest litigant is Tuners Bar & Grill, which is demanding immunity from prosecution if it doesn’t unplug its illicit machines.

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Bobby Vegas—I’m Not an Advantage Player

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

I experienced an AP epiphany reading Michael Kaplan’s fascinating book, Advantage Players, and realized what I am and what I’m not.

Advantage players are literally in a world of their own making. The intensity, intelligence, and dedication to be in that rarefied club, then actually succeeding in breaking the bank, leave me shaking my head. Wow.

James Grosjean has my total admiration. His intense dedication to extensive research, analysis, and discovery and the incredible lengths he goes to implement these massively complex plays (I was going to say strategy, but that’s like comparing an organ grinder to an orchestral movement) are amazing.

My goal is not to leave with all the banana ($1,000) and chocolate ($25,000) chips or be invited to six-figure comped parties at Hakkasan, then hopefully getting outta town with all the loot and ID intact.

That club, while tipping my hat to it and learning what I can from their exploits, isn’t me. I’m not an “advantage playuh.”

I’m a value player, where LR x MV x LP = +$

My goal? Play with the Lowest Risk extracting Maximum Value as Long as Possible (staying well below the radar, then leaving satisfied and hopefully) Net Positive in cash dollars. And overall, I succeed.

We each have our own levels of risk and reward. Yours may be $50 or $500 or $50,000 to my $1/$5/$25. Whatever the level ,I tip my hardly under the radar very colorful “cat in the hat” to you.

But no matter what level you’re playing at, you’re in the game.

BTW, my experiences led me to work with one advantage player who was surreptitiously using electronics to record data in a Vegas casino and asked if I’d assist him. I said absolutely not. I like my life and had zero interest ending up in a desert prison for using electronics in a Nevada casino to affect a game.

The goal of my roulette project (using Non-Linear Dynamic Recurrence Theory) was creating a strategy without electronics. My program (not a “system,” mind you) was based on Thorpe’s card-counting strategy card concept, but applied to roulette — to ID when roulette’s extreme variance favors me. I continued to use it after we parted ways.

What I learned from that and other Vegas adventures, AP is way above my risk tolerance and “playgrade,” like my black-chip-and-higher card-counting bud.

Again, I’m not a playuh. Except on the dance floor. Channeling Cyndi Lauper or Bruno or MJ, “I just wanna have fun.” That’s my goal.

Yes, like APs, I love the research, hunt, and discovery, but my end game is to “play long time,” minimizing risk, extracting value from the tables and the resorts, restaurants, clubs, all in the interest of having a good time. And for free or as close to it I can get.

I’ve loved “playing Vegas” for 35 years. Hopefully, I will for 25 more. What’s your level? Your goals? Whatever they are, know thyself. Now … let’s play.

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Embracing the Dark Ages

Organized crime and offshore casinos are about to get a huge in-kind contribution from the Ohio GOP. The Orwellian-slugged “Save Ohio Sports Act” would roll back sports wagering in the Buckeye State to the Dark Ages of gambling. Reps. Jonathan Newman (R) and Beth Lear (R) have coupled to produce this monstrous afterbirth. Right off the top, it would ban online sports betting. Period. No more. The overwhelming majority (more than 95%) of sports bets are placed online, so you can basically take a shovel to sports wagering in Ohio. After all, there are fewer and fewer Buckeye State retail books … and it’s not like DraftKings or FanDuel is going to open a walk-up book in Akron or Youngstown. Not gonna happen. If you can’t get to a casino to place that wager, you’re going to be shit out of luck, friend.

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Top 3 Picks: Las Vegas Happy Hours This Week

Las Vegas Happy hours this week: July 8, 2026

Three happy hours this week that all earned their spot on the list. A new one in the Arts District from one of the most respected hospitality groups in Vegas, an Italian institution that has been doing it right since 1985, and a local sushi favorite that keeps getting better. Different neighborhoods, different menus, great deals. All worth knowing about.

🥐 Bar Boheme — Arts District
Daily 4–6 PM · 1401 S Main St

Bar Boheme Happy Hour

Here is the context that makes this happy hour worth paying attention to. Bar Boheme is the latest restaurant from Chef James Trees — the Las Vegas native behind Esther’s Kitchen, Al Solito Posto, Ada’s, and High Steaks, and a two-time James Beard semifinalist, including a 2026 nomination. Trees took a former mid-century mechanic’s shop on Main Street in the Arts District and turned it into a modern French brasserie centered around a zebra marble bar, bohemian chandeliers, and a wine list sourced exclusively from France. The kitchen is led by Executive Chef Sean O’Hara.

The happy hour menu is where the pedigree meets the price point. Escargot for $4. Le Hamburger — a genuinely remarkable burger that reviewers consistently single out — at happy hour pricing. Poutine. Martinis. The move is Le Hamburger, poutine, and a martini for around $35. That is outstanding on every level and not a combination you will find at this quality anywhere else in the valley.

The Arts District crowd here is local professionals, creatives, and food-savvy visitors who found the place through a recommendation. The room has that lived-in charm that takes years to develop and usually requires an actual neighborhood to exist. This one does.

Order this: Escargot to start and at $4 it is a no-risk introduction to one of the best kitchens in Vegas. Then Le Hamburger + poutine + a martini. ~$40 total.

📍 1401 S Main St, Las Vegas Arts District · (702) 848-6823
🌎 Bar Boheme website
🍸 Full menu & hours at Happy Hour Vegas

🍝 Ferraro’s Ristorante — Paradise Road (Off Strip)
Ora Sociale: Daily 4–7 PM · Bar, Lounge & Patio

Ferraro's Happy Hour

Ferraro’s started as a six-table deli and pizzeria in 1985. Today it holds the Gambero Rosso Tre Forchette — one of only eight restaurants in the United States to earn the highest rating for authentic Italian cuisine — alongside a wine collection of 1,800 labels and 22,000 bottles. Tasting Table named it the best Italian restaurant in Nevada. It has been family-owned and operated for 41 years, now led by Executive Chef Mimmo Ferraro, son of founders Gino and Rosalba.

That is the restaurant. The Ora Sociale happy hour is how locals experience it every day without a special occasion attached. Classic Italian hospitality, serious food, and prices that feel like they belong to a different era. The $10 meatballs and Italian small plates are the entry point. The Carpaccio di Manzo is the move — thinly sliced beef tenderloin prepared the way a 40-year Italian institution prepares it. Do not overthink it. Just order it.

One block off the Strip. Free parking. The kind of restaurant that locals keep to themselves and visitors put on bucket lists. The happy hour is the shortcut to both.

Order this: Carpaccio di Manzo + meatballs + a glass from the wine list. You are one block from the Strip at one of the eight best Italian restaurants in America by one credible measure. Act accordingly.

📍 4480 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89169
🌎 Ferraro’s website
🍸 Full menu & hours at Happy Hour Vegas

🍣 Kusa Nori — Resorts World Las Vegas
Sun–Thu 5–10 PM · Sat 5–6:30 PM · Closed Friday · Free parking for locals

Kusa Nori Happy Hour

Kusa Nori has built a loyal following among local sushi enthusiasts since opening at Resorts World, and the updated happy hour menu is the best version yet. This is an elegant, chic sushi bar that takes the fish seriously — and the happy hour prices make it one of the better-value sushi experiences in Las Vegas regardless of what you compare it to.

Hand rolls at $8 each — including the Ikura Salmon and the Tsurai Yellowtail, both of which are worth ordering on their own terms. The move is to add the Jidori Chicken Karaage or the Blue Fin Tuna Tartare at $16 to build a complete experience rather than treating this as a snack stop. That combination runs well under $50 and delivers at a level that most Strip sushi bars charge twice as much to approximate.

Resorts World has more happy hours than most people realize and free parking for locals makes the math work even better. Kusa Nori is the reason to make the trip.

Order this: Ikura Salmon hand roll + Tsurai Yellowtail hand roll + Blue Fin Tuna Tartare. That is the full Kusa Nori happy hour experience in three items.

📍 3000 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109
🌎 Kusa Nori website
🍸 Full menu & hours at Happy Hour Vegas

Explore More Happy Hours in Las Vegas

🌍 Not in any of these neighborhoods tonight? Happy Hour Vegas has you covered across the valley:
The Strip · Summerlin · Downtown · Henderson · Arts District · Southwest · Off Strip · Centennial

🎯 Looking for something specific? Browse by vibe:
Sushi · Italian · Oyster · Date Night · Hidden Gems · Foodie · Wine · Deals

👈 See Last Week’s Happy Hours on Las Vegas Advisor – July 1, 2026

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The Case for a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

I’m not typically a fan of a credit card with a $795 annual fee. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card is an exception. Here’s why I think the card is worth the price. I list the Chase value of each major benefit and then what I think the benefit is actually worth:

$300 dining credit; JJ value is $200
The dining credit is broken out into two $150 credits. The first is good Jan.–June and the second July–December. Here is the list for Las Vegas. The list is limited and I wish they would just give you a $300 credit for the year. Still, a nice perk.

$300 credit at Stub Hub or Viagogo; JJ value $200
Again, the credit is split in two. Stub Hub surcharges can be quite a bit and you have to attend two events.

$300 travel credit; JJ value $300
This credit is good for the whole year and is a direct credit for travel expenses. These include airfare, hotels, rental cars, parking, tolls, etc.

Pre TSA or Clear credit: $85 for Pre TSA and $119 for Clear; JJ value $25
This credit is good once every four years (the length of the Pre TSA and Clear membership). You can use this only once in that time, so if you already have either of those, there’s no value. You can buy someone else’s membership. This one is a bit difficult to price.

Priority Pass $399; JJ value $200
This perk gets you priority-pass membership that allows you to bring two guests into an airport lounge. Again, this one depends a lot on where you fly and how good the lounges are in your location.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounges. I’m not putting a value on this, since I haven’t been in a Chase lounge yet. The few times I tried, the lines were way too long. I think they’re working on the capacity issue.

Primary Rental Car Insurance; JJ value $300
This is one of my favorite CSR perks. Primary rental car insurance means you can skip the high-pressure sales pitch at the rental car counter and your car insurance company isn’t even notified if there’s damage to the vehicle. It used to be a minor accident wasn’t reported to your personal auto insurance company. I don’t know if that’s the case anymore or not.

The rental car companies charge $20-$40 per dayfor this coverage. The peace of mind is great and it can save you a bunch, especially if you typically take the insurance from the rental car company.

There are various other perks but these are the major ones.

JJ value is $1,225. There’s also a sign-up bonus, currently 100,000 points, worth about $1,500, depending on how you use it. If you’re interested, please use my link. I’ll split the referral bonus 4 ways: 1/4th to you, 1/4th to me, 1/4th to LVA, for hosting and 1/4th to the IRS. This is now considered taxable income. The current referral bonus is 20,000 points. I take the lowest valuation at $0.01 per point, so I would send you $50.

Here are one link and another link with more information.

Also, check to see if you can get a better offer. Many factors go into the sign-up bonus and some people get more than the general public. Sometimes doing the search in incognito mode helps you to get a better offer.

I’ve had this card for eight years. I think the annual fee was $295 the first year and has gone up several times. I still think the card is worth the price, especially with the sign-up bonus.

If nothing else, I recommend getting this card for one year and see how you like it. The usual Chase 5/24 rules apply. If you’ve opened five cards in 24 months, Chase won’t let you open another card. Also, I believe they’re looking for a mid-700 FICO score. Many factors go into determining credit-card offer eligibility.