Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week is dinner during the weekdays only so far. Mon-Thurs, 5 p.m. 9 p.m. at $24.95.
Cosmopolitan – Wicked Spoon: Breakfast and lunch menus are separated by time now. Weekday breakfast is Mon-Fri, 8 a.m.-11 a.m. Weekday Lunch is Mon-Fri, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Both priced at $47.
South Point – Garden Buffet: Lunch went up from $20.95 to $22.95. Prime Rib & Champagne Brunch went up from $29.95 to $30.95. And Prime Rib Dinner ft. Peel & Eat Shrimp went up from $29.95 to $30.95.
With 10 games to go in the regular season, the VGK are in a hard-fought battle to secure a place in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Trying to chase down the the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators and being chased by St Louis and Minnesota, the Knights need to step it up if they want the chance to defend the hardest trophy to win in major sports.
Lindsey, Chris, and Eddie take a deep dive into the VGK’s recent play and what it’ll take to get them into the ost-season.
The “Controversy in the Crease” is finally over as, Logan Thompson has seized the net for the stretch run.
The crew also checks in on the trade-deadline acquisitions of Noah Hanifin and Anthony Mantha and predicts who’s staying and who might be just a rental.
No episode is complete without predictions. How will the VGK’s last 10 games play out? Lindsey and the boys make their predictions.
How do you, our loyal viewers, think the stretch run will play out? Comment below!
At long last, Slots A Fun on the north Strip next to (and owned by) Circus Circus has been modernized with new carpet, $2 blast-from-the-past offerings from the bar, a new table-game pit, and most noticeable of all, 75 vintage coin- (quarter) and token-($1)operated slots in 25¢ and $1 denominations.
As for the small pit, four blackjack tables have $5 minimums with $500 max bets. Roulette is played with $1 tokens, but requires a $10 minimum bet. And the electronic crap table has a live dealer.
All the old coin machines from Circus Circus were relocated to Slots A Fun and a few dozen more were bought from Vegas vendors to fill out the floor. As you walk in from Circus, you’re greeted by the dulcet sounds of coins dropping into hoppers from two back-to-back banks of Magnificent 7s (the sign boasts a 97.4% payback). When we were there on a Saturday around noon, the 20 machines were jammed with players loading them up with tokens.
Six more Magnificent 7s are near front door, along with Triple Stars, Triple Strike, Triple Double, Double Gold, and the good old Double Diamonds and Red White and Blue machines. Of course, the joint sports the big new slots (Buffalo and the like) and Wheel of Fortune.
You won’t find any change booths or roving change ladies, but you can change you bills into $1 tokens and quarters at the equally vintage machines. And the old-time change buckets are readily available.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that the whole front of the casino still opens right out onto the Strip sidewalk. The coin-clanging soundtrack definitely draws the older nostalgic passersby right in.
The gift shop on the north wall and the bar on the south are also basically the same, though there’s a self-serve drink, snack, souvenir, and sundry selection next to the bar where the food court used to be.
At the bar, you can get $2 Heinekens, hot dogs, popcorn, and shrimp cocktails. We tried the shrimp, of course, and you can read thatreview here.
Parking is free in the surface lot and parking structures behind Circus Circus; you just have to walk through the madhouse to get to Slots A Fun.
When we heard a renowned shop that at least one food journal named as serving the best sandwiches in the world was coming to town, we couldn’t wait for it to open. It took eight months, then one more for us to get there.
All’Antico Vinaio means “At the Ancient Wine Merchant” and describes the location of the first shop that opened in Florence, Italy, in 1989 across from a wine bar. In Las Vegas, it’s located at the unfinished UnCommons mixed-use district in the southwest valley. It’s the brand’s third location in the U.S.; the other two are in Manhattan and Venice, California.
It occupies a surprisingly cramped storefront, with seven workers in constant motion behind the small counter, especially the two beefy people operating the meat slicers, one on each side of the counter — back and forth, back and forth, slicing and stacking cold cuts and stopping only to change meat.
And the word is out about All’Antico; customers were lined up all the way back to the door when we were there on a Monday afternoon. You can eat at a couple of two tops and a dozen or so stools against high tables at windows overlooking the street, but it’s pretty cramped; two tables are outside the windows on the sidewalk as well.
The sandwiches are made with freshly baked schiacciata (skia-CHA-tah), a chewy Tuscan flatbread. In the photo below, the sandwich maker is preparing our three-sandwich order from a half-loaf.
Between the bread are meat, cheese, and vegetables, all lined up neatly in the long display case.
The sliced meats include capicollo, two kinds of prosciutto, lardo (Italian fatback), pancetta (salt-cured pork belly), and sbriciolona (fennel-seed salami), with various cheeses like gorgonzola, mozzarella, stracciatella (mozzarella soaked in cream), and other soft cream cheeses (pecorino, nduja, truffle, pistachio), along with fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, spicy eggplant, and grilled vegetables.
Prices start at $12 for the Caprese (mozzarella, tomato, and fresh basil) and go up to $20 for the lardo-gorgonzola-truffle-honey combo. The signature sandwich is the Favoloso: sbriciolona, pecorino cream, artichoke cream, and spicy eggplant. Signs on the countertop advertise two or three daily specials.
We got the Caprese, Favoloso, and Paradiso with mortadella, stracciatella, pistachio cream, and pistachio ($18). The total bill with tip came to $51.
Pricey for three sandwiches, yes, but these are huge; each can easily feed two and the three we brought back to the office satisfied appetites for more than two days. Also, with the specialty bread, the authentic Italian ingredients, and the experience in the small shop, this is a true taste of the birthplace of the Renaissance.
We were pleased that All’Antico isn’t part of the Sundry food hall at Uncommons, which is directly across the street, so we didn’t have to contend with a hostess, QR codes, and ewallets. Instead, you get your food the old-fashioned way: by walking in, waiting in line, and telling the people behind the counter what you want face to face; they make it for you as you watch and wrap it up; you take it to the cashier, pay, and you’re back out on the street with a big bag of food.
To get there, from Durango Road just west of the 215 Beltway and directly across from Station’s Durango Hotel-Casino, turn onto Maule and take your first left. Drive to the end of Helen Toland Street, park in the P2 garage, and All’Antico is right across the street on the corner. There are a few street-parking spots if you can grab one.
We highly recommend All’Antico Vinaio. It’s unique not only in Las Vegas, but all over the world, except New York, L.A., and Florence itself, as well.
Try to separate them. Just try. You can’t. They’re inextricably intertwined in a love-hate relationship. Or, as we like to say, you can take the casino out of politics but you can’t take politics out of the casino. Let’s look at some current events that illustrate this. Down in Mississippi, an attempt was made to juice a state-subsidized casino into Jackson, tiptoeing through the Lege when nobody was looking. Regulators were caught flat-footed, as were elements of the industry. The bill would have specified both the level of investment ($500 million, minimum) and the location (on the Pearl River). Also, it was a limited-bid scenario, with only owners currently operating in the state eligible.
Casinos reward players for playing. These rewards typically include cash back, free play, rooms, food, show/event tickets, and as many other goodies as a marketing director can imagine. I’ve received gift cards, spa treatments, cruises, shopping sprees, trips, and discounts on a variety of things.
Once you’ve received these rewards, for the most part you can use them as you see fit, including redeem them, ignore them, give them to family and friends, and, sometimes, sell them. If you’ve received a logo jacket, for example, and choose to sell it on eBay, no casino executive will object to this.
If the casino has offered you a hotel room, and you give this room away, again there’s no problem. But if you sell the room, and the casino discovers this, you may well be punished. Each casino has its own way of bringing players into line, but you usually will receive a warning before the casino takes any action.
If you continue selling rooms after the casino tells you that it’s not allowed, the casino will “solve” the problem by not giving you free rooms anymore — and maybe kicking you out altogether.
I can see the casino’s point of view on this. After all, selling rooms is one of their income streams, and if they can sell the room instead of giving it away for free, it helps their bottom line.
I can also see the player’s point of view on this. If a casino “gives” you something, you should be able to do whatever you want with it. It’s hard enough to beat the casino. Adding a few extra bucks from selling something the casino gives you makes it easier to win. Or at least lose less.
While I haven’t sold any comped rooms for several years, if I were to do it again, I’d try to do it in a way that would maximize my chances of being successful at it.
First of all, I wouldn’t go through a host. My host knows my preferences — perhaps one bed, no smoking, high floor, near elevator — whatever. If I all of a sudden I want two beds in a smoking room, the host is going to be asking questions. I could say it’s for my brother-in-law, and that would fly once. But if I tried it several more times, each time with a different set of room requests, the host may get suspicious. While the host is your “friend,” of sorts, the casino signs her paycheck.
So, after the reservation is made, go though the front desk to make the changes in the “smoking or not” kind of requests. To the front desk, you’re just a name. To your host, you’re quite a bit more than that. Casinos identify you by what kind of games you play, what stakes, what frequency of play, what your win-loss numbers are, and a variety of other things. All this data is part of how your host knows you.
Second, if I get a comped room and sell it to somebody, I’d play some that weekend. It doesn’t have to be a lot. But no play at all waives a red flag.
Third, I’d be discreet about it. I wouldn’t post an ad that offers discounted rooms to the such-and-such casino. Those ads might well be seen by somebody who works at the casino, and it could lead to it being investigated. Once somebody who works at the casino tries to “buy” such a discounted room, they’d find out that I was behind it — and the cat would be out of the bag. No thanks.
Fourth, I’d spread it around to several casinos if I had potential comped rooms at more than one place. Each time one does this is a risk. Doing it at several casinos rather than just one dilutes that risk a bit.
More than the presidency is changing at Borgata (with Travis Lunn having left to head up Mandalay Bay). Out goes the carpeting, to be replaced with the cool tones shown at the top of the above photo. Our man in Atlantic City is not pleased with the flooring switcheroo: “When Ocean Casino replaced their carpet a few years ago, the carpet colors were bright and attractive. Last year, Bally’s replaced their carpet. The carpet colors are bright and attractive. Did Borgata’s new, blue-tone carpet come from a discount carpet store? Shame on MGM Resorts International for the choice.” (We confess we actually like it.)
What could possibly not happen in that time? Well, let’s see what did.
To start was a six-day Super Bowl event I’d been planning for 18 months. Even with all the client frustrations and a greatly reduced crowd of 15 people, it was a huge success. It took place at Stadium Swim at Circa and the bill was around $10,000.
Shaq’s Fun House at XS at the Wynn the Friday night before Super Bowl Sunday was, in a word, wild.
I got photo-hustled twice, once on Fremont Street and once in the Bellagio self-park.
(I also needed a pinky ring for — what else? — Bruno Mars’ Pinky Ring at Bellagio and bought some fake gold from a “broke Saudi” who needed gas money to get home to San Francisco. It’s okay. I didn’t have to go to a jewelry store, figured it was fake, and got a “gold chain” too, all $100 for what was worth maybe $20.)
Besides, before this trip, I learned that Bruno Mars was opening an intimate lounge at Bellagio and his band The Hooligans was going to play over the first two weeks. I’m a huge Bruno fan, having seen him twice in Vegas and North Carolina. I had to be there, especially Monday night after the Super Bowl. So I booked several reservations for opening night and other nights.
And baby, I became a star. Worked the Bobby Vegas LVA journalist thing all the way home. It was so incredible, I decided to stay in Vegas for the Hooligans’ entire 14-day run or until I fell over dead. I was there for six out of the first eight nights, dancing up a storm with all sorts of hotties and getting a massage the first three days to work out the kinks. The band actually asked to take a picture with Bobby Vegas. But there’s a rule: What happens in the Pinky Ring stays in the Pinky Ring. So the house photographer took the shot and I still don’t have a copy!
Bruno got up and shook my hand the second night. I don’t remember what he said, but let me repeat that. Bruno Mars got up and shook my hand.
I danced with Janelle Monae and her girlfriend (well, okay, there were like 10 of us). I bonded with Jackie Wilson’s son Bobby and danced with Tina Turner’s goddaughter Gladys, who said I was the best dancer she’s ever been with. Two 40-something African American ladies asked me, “You’re from Brooklyn, right?” And a 20-something Colombian I was dancing salsa with said, “You’re Latino, right?”
The hosts all welcomed me back every night like I was the celebrity. I became an honorary Hooligan, spent oodles of money going to the Pinky Ring six times, though it was mostly from wins at video poker and roulette, and brought home tons of swag.
This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.
AC says:
Video poker players will like this article. Many players know the commonly cited statistic that a royal flush occurs about once in 40,000 hands on average. But beyond that, the related numbers are less known. This article by Henry Tamburin puts these numbers all in one place, both the frequency of being dealt X number of cards to the royal flush and the odds of hitting it. One interesting fact within is that it’s almost twice as likely to get a royal on a 5-card redraw than on the initial deal (the redraw comes from a pack of 47 cards that are minus five that won’t complete a royal). There’s also some bonus info at the top of the article regarding how video poker games select and deal the cards that appear on the screen.
Let’s face it. What all video poker players hope (and pray) for is that the next hand will give them a royal flush because that results in an immediate 4,000 coin payoff. But did you ever wonder what the chance that this will happen when you hold, say, four cards to a royal flush? How about holding three cards to a royal? And what is the chance of being dealt a royal flush on the initial deal? I’ve summarized the answers to these questions below and they may surprise you.
It’s the home stretch for the VGK, with 15 games remaining, and the team is still struggling with consistency in both the lineup and their play.
Lindsey, Chris, and Eddie delve into what’s ailing the team and what head coach Bruce Cassidy is doing to fix it. To that end, Cassidy sent shockwaves through the locker room by inserting Alec Martinez and Ben Hutton into the lineup and healthy scratching Zac Whitecloud and Nic Hague in Sunday’s game against New Jersey. The result? One of the best defensive performances by the team in recent memory and a convincing 3-1 victory.
Is that change going to stick?
With eight healthy D men, who are the odd men out? What will the pairs be if the VGK makes the playoffs? And is it time to split up Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb? There are lots of possibilities and speculation and the crew gives their best guesses.
Then it’s on to the scorching-hot issue for the VGK fanbase: Where will Conn Smythe winner and team-lead scorer Jonathan Marchessault play next year? Everyone knows Marchessault is on an expiring contract and has earned a huge raise. But there are concerns.
This is a can’t-miss segment full of hot takes by the crew and predictions that are sure to infuriate VGK fans worldwide!
All this and more on Episode 73 of Hockey Knights in Vegas!
