Posted on by — Leave a comment

Guy Fieri’s Flavortown AYCE Brunch


Located at the Horseshoe entrance to restaurant row right off the casino in the walkway to Paris, Flavortown is a large sports bar with at least a dozen small TV screens scattered around the walls, a big video wall with three screens, each larger than the one next to it, and a 28-seat egg-shaped bar in the center. Ordinarily, a celebrity-chef’s overpriced restaurant on the center Strip, even one showing sports all day and night, wouldn’t interest us. But Flavortown is currently promoting a unique deal that caught our attention.

It’s not a buffet, but it is an all-you-can-eat brunch served Mon.-Thurs. from 8 am to 2 pm. You mix and match off the menu and keep eating until you bust. The starting price is $19.99 for bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, French toast, Caesar and house salads, chili, and brisket mac ‘n cheese. You can add on avocado toast, a club sandwich, or chicken and waffles for $5 and steak and eggs (seven-ounce strip) for $10. It’s another $29.99 for bottomless mimosas, Bloody Marys, and margaritas. 

Since you eat as much as you can, the diner next to us ordered three eggs instead of two with his steak and avocado toast, the latter two adding $15 for a total of $34.99. (In the photos, those are potatoes that look kind of like fried shrimp.)

At 11 a.m. on a Thursday, it was a half-hour wait for a table, but a few seats were open at the 28-seat bar, which has video poker machines in front of every other seat. (Careful, these are the worst pay schedules possible, 6/5 JoB and Bonus in all denominations from nickels to $5. And par for the course, people were playing.)

Initially, service was non-existent. Two bartenders split waiter duties and the guy next to us got a menu, ordered, and was served by the other bartender in the first 10 minutes, while our order wasn’t even taken for 15. Once it was, we waited another 15 minutes for the food — (bad) luck of the draw …

The eggs, which come without toast, and French toast arrived at the same time. It was all what you’d expect from a sports bar; the French toast was one inch-thick slice with a little bacon, a couple of hunks of caramelized banana, and good maple syrup.

When we arrived at 11, the place was packed and most people were ordering breakfast; by the time we left around noon, Flavortown had thinned out considerably and people were now ordering lunch. Typical for a sports bar, it’s big food, definitely quantity over quality. And though it’s nice to know you can eat eat eat, most appetites will be satisfied with just a couple of the offerings, either breakfast or lunch.

All in all, it’s a good gimmick and not a bad deal during the week at center Strip. With tax and a tip, we were out of there for $25.

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Gjelina at the Venetian

Gjelina was a restaurant we’d been curious about since it was announced in 2023 and opened the day after Christmas last year.

The first Gjelina, named for the owner’s grandmother, debuted in Venice Beach, California, in 2008 and since then has expanded into a diverse business, with Gjusta Bakery, GTA (take-out), Gjusta Goods (retail), Gjusta Grocer (market), Gjusta Flower Shop, and Gjelina Hotel. The restaurant in the Venetian is their third Gjelina; the other is on Bond Street in Lower Manhattan.

Gjelina touts its menu as “guided by conversations and long-standing relationships with southern California farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and co-ops.” The Las Vegas venue serves lunch, dinner, and a weekend brunch. The three menus are similar, though dinner has more vegetables, plus “plates” (entrees). Dinner features a raw bar and charcuterie ($10 for marinated olives up to $50 for a dozen oysters); four salads($20-$24) and a soup ($12); a dozen or so vegetable dishes, such as roasted oyster mushroom, Japanese sweet potato, and broccolini ($17-$23); and entrees, including beef tartare (the least expensive at $25), PEI black mussels, wood-roasted prawns, lamb chop, and rib eye (the most expensive at $89); and eight pizzas with gourmet cheeses and mushrooms, plus lamb sausage, chorizo, and guanciale (cured pork) for $21 to $28.

For lunch, the menu is essentially the same, with the same prices, though fewer raw-bar, salad, plate, veggie, and pizza selections. There are also four sandwiches. We went for lunch and tried an appetizer: the English pea and cipollini onion in a chickpeas miso butter sauce appetizer, which the waiter said was “really good.” And it was: barely cooked fresh peas and sweet onion in an outstanding sauce ($18).

Our lamb burger ($24) and blackened sea bass sandwich ($23) were fine as far as they went, though we estimated perhaps three minimal ounces of sea bass. Both came with “giardiniera” pickled vegetables, which, like the peas, were excellent.

blackened sea bass san
lamb burger

All in all, however, the experience left us a little wanting. First, we were upsold an $8 bottle of spring water (one of those deals where the server ran through her spiel about drinks so fast that we didn’t hear that the “water” was for sale — or she didn’t mention it). Second, Gjelina is one of the few restaurants in Las Vegas that tacks on an autosuck 20% gratuity. It’s clearly stated on the menus and the servers made a point of communicating it as well. Still, we don’t like it for a number of reasons. Third, for a $100 lunch ($78 for food and drink, $15.60 “mandatory service charge,” and $6.53 tax), both of us were hungry an hour later. And fourth, due to circumstances, we valet parked at the Venetian, which cost another $45.

The verdict: yet another very expensive and less than satisfying couple of hours on the Strip.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Valet Parking at the Venetian

We hadn’t valet parked in Vegas in decades, but on our visit to Gjelina at the Venetian, we were accompanied by a disabled person, so we opted for the convenience.

There were no surprises. A big sign as you pull into the porte cochere says, “Valet Parking $40 a Day.” Self-parking is $20 anyway, so we bit the bullet; the extra $20 for the well being of our guest was certainly worth it.

You drop off your trusty steed in the usual fashion: pulling up to the valet area under the portico in front, giving up your key, and receiving a claim ticket. But when you come out to retrieve your car, you do so at the Valet Pick-Up Kiosk.

You follow the few simple instructions on the screen. First, you scan the QR code on your ticket.

Then the credit card screen comes up. The arrow points to the card reader, where you pay by swiping, inserting, or tapping.

The last screen tells you that your car is on its way. You don’t have to talk to anyone; no one is there to talk to anyway, since the one or two valet attendants are busy running cars from the garage to the portico. Ours took another 15 minutes to show up on a Wednesday afternoon around 2:30.

With the $5 tip, parking at Venetian added $45 to our lunch tab at Gjelina.

Posted on by — 4 Comments

Smoking Gun; Motown Mayhem

We promised to stay on the case of the phantom rebranding of the Tropicana Atlantic City. Above you see the official evidence. There’s nothing sinister afoot. Caesars Entertainment simply got caught with its marketing pants down. It is a bit funny that the Roman Empire would change its Atlantic City letterhead but simply forget to rename the casino. Assuming that’s what was going on. And you know what happens to those who assume.

Continue reading Smoking Gun; Motown Mayhem
Posted on by — 4 Comments

Playing for Second Best

Bob Dancer

One of my students was given a nice offer at Caesars Atlantic City, based on his play at another Caesars property. He got some nice show-up money, some free hotel nights, some food, and an offer that for every so many Tier Credits (TCs) he earned, he got so much money in free play. I don’t know what the limit was, but it would take well over $1 million in coin-in to max the offer. He asked me to help him figure out the best way to tackle this.

We ruled out 9/6 Jacks or Better in the high limit room because it takes $25 coin-in to earn one TC and regular video poker only takes $10 to earn the same point. I called some players and discovered they have 9/6 Double Double Bonus (98.98%) in $5, $10, and $25 single-line games. That would be a much cheaper way to earn TCs even without the promo, and even more so with. This was his first trip there and if he played more than a million dollars on his first three-day visit, win or lose, there’s a good chance he’ll get nice offers down the road.

The property now offers 0.25% next day bounce back cash (NDB) on regular video poker (0.10% on 9/6 Jacks) and on Thursdays, for two hours, 10x NDB. He asked if he should make any strategy adjustments for that two-hour period.

“Absolutely,” I replied, “I don’t know for sure, but I suspect the casino will be very crowded during that two-hour period — especially in the high limit room. Unless there are nearby vacant machines with the same pay schedule. W-2Gs during those two hours are very expensive.”

While I’ve not played in that casino for more than a decade, I’ve heard getting W-2Gs paid there can take 15 minutes on regular days, and during some promotions, the slot people get so slammed it can take more than an hour. A two-hour juicy promotion is useless if you can’t get on a machine.

I suggested looking for hands where two plays are close in value, but the correct one can get a W-2G and the other one can’t — or at least it’s a lot more difficult to get one.

We used the advanced section of WinPoker to deal us hands where the difference between the best and the second-best play was 50 cents or less for a dollar player. That means $12.50 or less for a $25 player.

Hands such as A♠ J♥ T♠ 7♦ 4♠ popped up. Holding the bare ace is the best play by 3.3 cents for the five-coin dollar player. (The numbers I quote here will be for the dollar player. If you’re playing a $5, $10, or $25 machine, multiply the number by 5, 10, or 25 accordingly.) Holding AJ instead of the bare ace reduces your chance of getting a W-2G on this hand by about 50%. Is 3.3¢ a cheap price to pay for such a reduction? To my mind, yes.

Another qualifying hand was A♦ K♦ J♣ T♥ 8♠. Holding the AK gives you three chances out of 16,215 getting a W-2G. (On a $25 machine, the royal, four aces, and four kings each get you a handpay).  Holding AKJT eliminates that chance altogether. It costs you 4.3¢ to make such a play. It takes some courage to pull the trigger on this because while one of the possible jackpots was “only” four kings, with the other two W-2Gs you’re giving up the possibilities of receiving a royal flush and four aces — hands DDB players dream about. Still, getting those hands was taken into consideration when we computed it was a 4.3¢ difference in EV.

There are other hands to be considered. Once I give you the concept and tell you where to look, you can find them out for yourself if you’re interested.

In Harrah’s Cherokee, the loosest game is $5 NSU Deuces Wild. The “mystery” multiple NDB day goes for 24 hours, not just two. While they don’t make it clear what your multiplier is until you’ve already played, if you assume it’s 2x, you’ll be correct a very high percentage of the time. A 2x multiplier seems to pale in comparison with 10x elsewhere, but the base video poker games are better in Cherokee (if you’re willing and able to play $25 per hand), the base NDB rate is higher, and the promo goes for 24 hours rather than two.

The same “W-2Gs are expensive” philosophy holds during the multiple NDB days. When I get dealt a hand where a second-best play might reduce or eliminate the chances for a W-2G, the first thing I would do is check to see if there is a suitable nearby machine available. If one is, I’ll make the standard play and scoot over if the W-2G (four deuces or a royal flush in this game and denomination) comes home. But if no such machine is available, these are some of the hands I’d consider making the “second-best” play:

  1. W45 — With a suited deuce four five, it’s a close play whether you play the deuce by itself or deuce four five — and the exact correct play is a bit complicated to figure out. For me during the promo if no backup machine is available, I’m holding all three cards every time.
  2. A one-deuce perfect 4-card straight from W567-WQJT. It’s a close play whether you hold one card or four — and the exact rules are again a bit complicated — but during this promo with no backup machines available, I’m holding four cards every time.

A now-deceased good friend of mine made up “Annie’s Rule” on these hands.  Because she liked getting four deuces so much, she was willing to give up a few pennies in expected value to increase her chances of getting “the ducks.” I guess if she were playing this promotion and thought about it sufficiently, she would use “Bob’s Rule” which values not getting four deuces at times such as these.

  1. KQ, KJ, or KT with at least two penalties. A straight penalty would be an unpaired card in the range of 9-A, while a flush penalty is a card of the same suit as the K in the range of 3-8. In these hands, without an available spare machine, I’m throwing everything away. It’s only 16,214 to 1 to hit a royal when drawing three cards, while it’s much longer when drawing five cards.  Your odds of drawing four deuces after when drawing five new cards are on in 35,673. Not zero, but not likely.

As before, there are other hands I’d play “second best but no jackpot” under these conditions, but now you understand the concept and know where to look, you can find them yourself.

These plays are not limited to NDB conditions. They are worth considering whenever W-2Gs are going to be paid slowly and there are no replacement machines nearby. At some casinos this can be 100% of the time on some machines!

Be sure the right conditions are there before you pull the trigger on one these plays. If jackpots are paid faster (at some casinos you can self pay) or there are ample additional suitable machines, it’s not smart to make any of these second-best plays.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

“Amplified”

Illuminarium at Area15

noon, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 p.m.

$39.99 general, $29.99 local, for the Dual Pass (two shows)

The latest digital show at Illuminarium, in a building adjacent to Area15, is Rolling Stone Presents Amplified — The Immersive Rock Experience. This is our third show at Illuminarium, along with Space and Lite Brite, and being rock fans for more than 60 years, we were excited to see what kind of justice this huge room, with its floor-to-ceiling Panasonic 50K laser projections and 3-D audio technology, could do with our favorite music.

This immersive attraction features 1,332 Rolling Stone covers from 1967 to 2024, 1,000 photographs, 200 videos, 300 iconic artists, exclusive portraits, album art, concert posters, live performances, and behind-the-scenes footage.

Actor and musician Kevin Bacon narrates the 50-minute presentation, interspersed with all kinds of music: “We Don’t Get Fooled Again” (the Who), “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” (Joan Jett), “Take Another Little Piece of My Heart” (Janis Joplin), “One Way or Another” (Blondie), “Low Rider” (War), “Paved Paradise, Put up a Parking Lot” (Joni Mitchell), “In My Room” (Beach Boys, especially poignant, as we saw the show a few days after the death of Brian Wilson), “Shining Star” (Earth, Wind & Fire), “I Wanna Be Sedated” (Ramones), “Something in the Air” (Thunderclap Newman), “Fame” (David Bowie), and our favorite and the ostensible theme song of Amplified, “God Gave Rock n Roll To You” (Argent).

The rock story is told in eight “chapters:” Concerts, Artists, Message, Hair, Fans, Cars, Studio, and Rolling Stone itself. The show makes the point that rock is more, much more, than just the music. It’s been a cultural phenomenon, a revolutionary upheaval, more than just a lifestyle or style — a statement.

It’s all well and good, as far as it goes. We enjoyed it for sure; many of the images are amazing and the sound is unparalleled. But compared to the other digital “museums” we’ve seen and reviewed, particularly VanGogh and Arte Museum, this format is linear and static — mostly photographs, with perhaps a little too much narration. Only the Cars sequence infuses the kind of motion that the other experiences do so well.

Also, running through 1,000-plus photographs (the photo credits at the end take five minutes to scroll ), the show is extremely fast-paced, even overwhelming at times. In addition, none of the images are identified; you recognize some, but captions are sorely lacking. And of course, it’s a monster ad for Rolling Stone, now owned by Penske Media Corporation.

One more objection comes from having seen the other two shows here. You buy what’s called a “Dual Pass,” which allows you to see two shows (Amplified and Lite Brite or Space) for the price of one. This is new; when we saw the other two, they ran continuously, so you could come in at any point and stay through the end and you didn’t have to leave until you reached the point where you entered. But with the Dual Pass, the second show comes on afterwards, so you have to sit through Lite Brite or Space before you can start start at the beginning of Amplified or see it again. If you haven’t seen the other two shows (we recommend Space), it’s not a bad deal. But to us, it felt like a drawback.

If you love rock ‘n’ roll like we do and especially if you aren’t a digital immersive connoisseur, these are mostly minor quibbles. There’s nothing quite like Amplified out there, so it’s worth doing to worship at the altar of counterculture history.

Posted on by — 6 Comments

Surge in Atlantic City

As consumers breathed a sigh of relief over tariffs that were more rhetorical than real, Atlantic City casinos spiked 5% in June. Boardwalk casinos grossed $259 million. It would have been even larger had the calendar not been short a weekend day. Borgata leapt 19.5% to $76.5 million and continuing supremacy. In a startling development, Ocean Casino Resort not only vaulted 30% but it nearly caught a slumping (-5.5%) Hard Rock Atlantic City, $43.5 million to $46 million.

Continue reading Surge in Atlantic City
Posted on by — 7 Comments

Bobby Vegas — Gift Cards, Points, and Straddles Oh My

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

Who knew giving away a dozen free cookies a day would be so hard. Help me. Please. My blood sugar begs you. Or planning an almost free trip to Vegas.

With the launch of the Frugal Video Poker Strategy Guide ebook, the $10 discount offered to LVA subscribers (SUBSCRIBE ) or previous purchasers of FVPSG’s hard copy (HARDCOPY), I threw in a dozen free Tiffs Treats cookies (COOKIE) for pickup through End of July, making the whole package if not free ($48 in value for $9.88), at least a fantastic value play.

You get the FVPSG, my “Best VP on the Strip” booklet, and a dozen warm cookies (good till all cookies are sold). Go to my previous blog for details.

As for gift cards, I love gift card deals. If a retailer wants to give me 25% off on something I buy regularly, I’m in. Here’s the problem. People lose their cards. Or forget about them. Me too. Big time. It’s like TITO tickets at Caesars.

Example: I bought a discounted Alamo Drafthouse e-gift card and lost it recently. Then the excellent live customer service person located my card and noticed I had several in my account. Checking the balances, I had over $200 worth dating back four years ! Holy buttered popcorn, Batman! Would AI have found that? No way. That’s one reason I solicit companies with live customer service — and why so many companies are eliminating them.

Next, our local custard place, Goodberry’s, sells discounted gift cards as gifts for friends and well, me. While decluttering, I found four $25 cards I’d lost. It pays to declutter, at least at my house.

As for points and credits, I’m a big fan of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. I charge everything I can, then pay off the balance and accrue enough points for my Vegas flights. My card gives a 25% bonus using their points on their 24/7 live travel portal. $400 plane flight? Only $300. nice.

Next, casino offers and coupons, oh my. I have two comp nights a month at Downtown Grand where they let me straddle. After stacking, I love straddles. I’ll have four nights over Labor Day weekend — two in August, two in September — for free.

Straddling months also works on casino free-play offers like Four Queens. You get two offers on one trip.

Finally, using my Rio no-resort-fee LVA MRB coupon Sunday thru Friday will cost me $127 total for five nights, saving the $285 in resort fees.

I’ll be in Vegas for nine nights and 10 days, free flight on points. Total hotel cost $135.

I still have to pay for my car. Working on that next. Even paying for that, my out-of-pocket trip cost will be under $500. For nine nights. And there were other very good deals at Plaza and the Grand with no resort fee, free parking and daily food comps I didn’t use.

It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.