Hit ‘em Nevada – Day 22
Being back in Las Vegas makes it the full circle. Having driven around the state touching the borders of California, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona seems to have just whizzed by. The entire trip so far has logged in 2,500 miles and now I’m now just about finished with the goal, which was to visit every casino in Nevada and place a bet in all that were possible.
A couple of readers noted that I neglected to report how the bet went at the Casa Blanca in Mesquite, and I did bet blackjack and won. The bets balance did show the correct amount.
After getting ready this morning, I decided to give the nickel 5-play progressive machines that are against the wall by the elevators. These machines have been here since this place opened. They tend to always be full of players. The reason being is that the dealt royal progressive tends to get very high. Today is no exception. The royals on the five separated games are progressives, but if you’re dealt a royal, you when the grand progressive which today is at $11,650. That’s for a five-play nickel machine! Dealt royals happen. I’ve had two or three myself. So, I put in $40 and played Super Aces. All the games are short pay, but this is the shot if you don’t catch one of the royals, you can still pick up a hundred bucks if you can nail quad Aces. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t catch anything.
The Suncoast Hotel and Casino
Today I went to many of the casinos I didn’t make when I started this trip. This first was next door to the Suncoast where I’m staying called the Rampart Casino. It’s in the Marriott Hotel here in Summerlin. The casino is managed by the Cannery Casino Group, but it more of a boutique type of casino. It’s in a big circle. When this first opened, I clearly remember that the table games where in a pit in the center that you stepped down to get to, but now though the table games are still in the center, the pit has been removed. Why they’d go to this expense is a mystery to me. My blackjack ten dollar bet was a loser.
The Rampert Casino in the Marriot Hote.
There are three casinos on Rancho Blvd. The smallest of these are the Wildfire Casino. Those of you who have been with the LVA for a long time will remember that this place used to have an LVA coupon that was good for a free burger in their café if you bought a drink. Those are long gone when it changed hands along with all the table games. However, they do still have a video game with dollar blackjack; again my two fives were eaten up and gone with a 19 versus the dealer’s 20.
The Wildfire Casino
A couple blocks down is the Texas Station. This is a typical Station casino that caters to locals. There’s a bowling alley, a theater complex, and the casino area covers almost the entire block. I’ve stayed here a couple of times in the past and rooms are small but nice and clean. My blackjack was going pretty badly, so I thought I’d give roulette this time, so the ten bucks went on black. They little white ball fell on red. My bets are not going very well today.
The Texas Hotel and Casino
On the next block is the Fiesta Hotel and Casino. I’ve also stayed here twice and the rooms are small and not very comfortable. This casino caters to a lower income group of customers. It’s a far cry from the Fiesta, Henderson. But on a good note, this casino still has a couple of banks of full pay machines that take nickels, dimes, and quarters—one of the few places anywhere that has full pay games in nickel and dime denominations. Blackjack again this time for me, and another loss! Wow—getting a spanking today.
The Fiesta Hotel and Casino in North Las Vegas
From Rancho Blvd, I got on to Decatur and followed it along going south until I reached Arizona Charlie’s Decatur. This casino along with Arizona Charlie’s East, the Stratosphere, and the Aquarius in Laughlin are all owned by the same company and uses the Ace One card. This is a very old casino and shows it. The ceiling is low, the machines are so squeezed together, and it’s difficult to walk around without moving chairs. However, the one good thing I can say about this place was that I won my blackjack hand.
Arizona Charlie's in Decatur
I next drove over to the Orleans. I’ve stayed here many times and have written a lot about it in the past. I will say that is place is really packed today—maybe the busiest casino I’ve been to today. I’m not sure who does their marketing, but they’re doing a great job. I lost my bet at blackjack, but after playing the Lord of Rings for a bit (and winning back the lost blackjack bet), I had accumulated 50 points which allowed me to pick up a free six-pack of Pepsi and cooler—more swag.
The Orleans
Down the street on Tropicana is the small motel, the Wild Wild West. This is a tiny place that’s been here a long time, and before the recession was targeted to be torn down in place of a Mega-resort, which got postponed. So, the Wild Wild West is here for now. In keeping with the theme of the day, I lost the blackjack bet again.
The Wild Wild West
I drove back to Flamingo and parked at the Palms. I’ve played here for years and still have a lot of unused comps. They had a swipe promotion here for cash and swag. I swiped and won $3 cash (weird). Blackjack was another winner—finally. The Palms still has the penny 50-play full pay jacks’ machines by the entrance that has been here forever. Surprisingly, these machines are always busy but today no one was playing them. This is still the “hot spot” to be seen by the twenty-somethings because they were everywhere struttin’ their muscle shirts and showing the boobs.
The Palms
Across the street from the Palms is the Gold Coast. Like the Fiesta, these rooms are very old and really small¸ so I won’t be staying here any time soon (once was enough). The casino is huge as the hotel takes up the entire block. This place also has a bowling alley on the second floor. How all these bowling alleys stay in business is amazing to me, but I’d guess that there are more bowling alleys in Las Vegas than any other city in the country. As a cap for a rough day at the tables, I lost my final blackjack bet of the day.
The Gold Coast
Tomorrow I’m heading back to Laughlin because I took advantage of a tournament offer that included a poker tournament that came with three free nights, which will take care of the weekend. I’ve already reported on Laughlin this trip, and so I’ll be taking a bit of a break from the casino search and the reports will simply cover what’s going on during those days. It was 105 today, but very low humidity, so even though it was hot, it was certainly not unbearable, unlike what you readers from St. Louis and the mid-section of the country. I feel for you and stay cool!
Trip Totals: Casinos visited 173; bets balance +$98
More tomorrow
Being back in Las Vegas makes it the full circle. Having driven around the state touching the borders of California, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona seems to have just whizzed by. The entire trip so far has logged in 2,500 miles and now I’m now just about finished with the goal, which was to visit every casino in Nevada and place a bet in all that were possible.
A couple of readers noted that I neglected to report how the bet went at the Casa Blanca in Mesquite, and I did bet blackjack and won. The bets balance did show the correct amount.
After getting ready this morning, I decided to give the nickel 5-play progressive machines that are against the wall by the elevators. These machines have been here since this place opened. They tend to always be full of players. The reason being is that the dealt royal progressive tends to get very high. Today is no exception. The royals on the five separated games are progressives, but if you’re dealt a royal, you when the grand progressive which today is at $11,650. That’s for a five-play nickel machine! Dealt royals happen. I’ve had two or three myself. So, I put in $40 and played Super Aces. All the games are short pay, but this is the shot if you don’t catch one of the royals, you can still pick up a hundred bucks if you can nail quad Aces. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t catch anything.
The Suncoast Hotel and Casino
Today I went to many of the casinos I didn’t make when I started this trip. This first was next door to the Suncoast where I’m staying called the Rampart Casino. It’s in the Marriott Hotel here in Summerlin. The casino is managed by the Cannery Casino Group, but it more of a boutique type of casino. It’s in a big circle. When this first opened, I clearly remember that the table games where in a pit in the center that you stepped down to get to, but now though the table games are still in the center, the pit has been removed. Why they’d go to this expense is a mystery to me. My blackjack ten dollar bet was a loser.
The Rampert Casino in the Marriot Hote.
There are three casinos on Rancho Blvd. The smallest of these are the Wildfire Casino. Those of you who have been with the LVA for a long time will remember that this place used to have an LVA coupon that was good for a free burger in their café if you bought a drink. Those are long gone when it changed hands along with all the table games. However, they do still have a video game with dollar blackjack; again my two fives were eaten up and gone with a 19 versus the dealer’s 20.
The Wildfire Casino
A couple blocks down is the Texas Station. This is a typical Station casino that caters to locals. There’s a bowling alley, a theater complex, and the casino area covers almost the entire block. I’ve stayed here a couple of times in the past and rooms are small but nice and clean. My blackjack was going pretty badly, so I thought I’d give roulette this time, so the ten bucks went on black. They little white ball fell on red. My bets are not going very well today.
The Texas Hotel and Casino
On the next block is the Fiesta Hotel and Casino. I’ve also stayed here twice and the rooms are small and not very comfortable. This casino caters to a lower income group of customers. It’s a far cry from the Fiesta, Henderson. But on a good note, this casino still has a couple of banks of full pay machines that take nickels, dimes, and quarters—one of the few places anywhere that has full pay games in nickel and dime denominations. Blackjack again this time for me, and another loss! Wow—getting a spanking today.
The Fiesta Hotel and Casino in North Las Vegas
From Rancho Blvd, I got on to Decatur and followed it along going south until I reached Arizona Charlie’s Decatur. This casino along with Arizona Charlie’s East, the Stratosphere, and the Aquarius in Laughlin are all owned by the same company and uses the Ace One card. This is a very old casino and shows it. The ceiling is low, the machines are so squeezed together, and it’s difficult to walk around without moving chairs. However, the one good thing I can say about this place was that I won my blackjack hand.
Arizona Charlie's in Decatur
I next drove over to the Orleans. I’ve stayed here many times and have written a lot about it in the past. I will say that is place is really packed today—maybe the busiest casino I’ve been to today. I’m not sure who does their marketing, but they’re doing a great job. I lost my bet at blackjack, but after playing the Lord of Rings for a bit (and winning back the lost blackjack bet), I had accumulated 50 points which allowed me to pick up a free six-pack of Pepsi and cooler—more swag.
The Orleans
Down the street on Tropicana is the small motel, the Wild Wild West. This is a tiny place that’s been here a long time, and before the recession was targeted to be torn down in place of a Mega-resort, which got postponed. So, the Wild Wild West is here for now. In keeping with the theme of the day, I lost the blackjack bet again.
The Wild Wild West
I drove back to Flamingo and parked at the Palms. I’ve played here for years and still have a lot of unused comps. They had a swipe promotion here for cash and swag. I swiped and won $3 cash (weird). Blackjack was another winner—finally. The Palms still has the penny 50-play full pay jacks’ machines by the entrance that has been here forever. Surprisingly, these machines are always busy but today no one was playing them. This is still the “hot spot” to be seen by the twenty-somethings because they were everywhere struttin’ their muscle shirts and showing the boobs.
The Palms
Across the street from the Palms is the Gold Coast. Like the Fiesta, these rooms are very old and really small¸ so I won’t be staying here any time soon (once was enough). The casino is huge as the hotel takes up the entire block. This place also has a bowling alley on the second floor. How all these bowling alleys stay in business is amazing to me, but I’d guess that there are more bowling alleys in Las Vegas than any other city in the country. As a cap for a rough day at the tables, I lost my final blackjack bet of the day.
The Gold Coast
Tomorrow I’m heading back to Laughlin because I took advantage of a tournament offer that included a poker tournament that came with three free nights, which will take care of the weekend. I’ve already reported on Laughlin this trip, and so I’ll be taking a bit of a break from the casino search and the reports will simply cover what’s going on during those days. It was 105 today, but very low humidity, so even though it was hot, it was certainly not unbearable, unlike what you readers from St. Louis and the mid-section of the country. I feel for you and stay cool!
Trip Totals: Casinos visited 173; bets balance +$98
More tomorrow
