The Stratosphere's no-pretense marketing campaign

I knew there was a reason why I loved the Strat. They are finally marketing all of the things that make it so great.

A vacation should not be an ego trip.... A bottle of booze should not be a mortgage payment...

I used to like the Strat, but I won,t be back until they put some playable video poker on the floor. And I won't be staying there until they get rid of the ripoff "resort" fees.

And I'm sure the Stratosphere is gonna miss the doc's bubbly and generous personality....

DonDiego has noticed an ever-creeping decline in the favorable aspects of blackjack and video poker both in reports out of Las Vegas and now personally in the gambling locales east of the Mississippi.

He doesn't miss Las Vegas as much as he'd thought when he moved East; he pr'bly wouldn't be spending much time there anymore, even if it were only a few hours drive, instead of a few days.

He does miss the sports betting a bit, . . . but even before he migrated that had become tougher as some of the favorable parlays had already been eliminated. There's some family contacts through whom he can still get a bet down if he really, really has to, . . . like if there's decent odds on, f'rinstance, the Philadelphia Eagles making the playoffs.

Total sucker bet.

Depends on the odds.

The year I had someone make the bet for me a few years ago, pr'bly 2008, the MGM Grand offered a bet on "the team winning the Division" and "the team making the playoffs", at less odds. I chose the playoff-bet, . . . and the Eagles were a wildcard. I collected $-several-thousand.

DonDiego wouldn't place such a bet until near the start of the season, so he doesn't know if the Eagles would be a candidate for a wager this year; heck fire, DonDiego doesn't even know who's gonna quarterback the team.

They have 7/5 Bonus Poker with Progressive which doesn't suck...especially with the bartop location.

I've heard about the single zero roulette wheel but I've never seen it. I think they see me coming and swap it out every time I visit.

Regarding the actual topic of this thread, DonDiego would certainly consider staying at the Stratosphere if he were to visit; he shares the attitude expressed in their new add campaign.

He's usually stayed downtown, 'cause it's cheaper, . . . and he can visit the expensive places anyway.
__ Surprisingly he has never been denied entrance to any casino which he chose to visit in Las Vegas. [And he's only been denied a seat at a gaming table once, . . . in Lake Tahoe.]
__He's dined at buffets from The Imperial Palace [the cheap buffet with the concrete floor in the back, not the regular one] through The Fremont and Main Street Station all the way up to Paris and The Bellagio, and lots in between. [The only one he regrets is the cheap one in The Imperial Palace.]

"Thrift comes too late when you find it at the bottom of your purse."
--Seneca

To the topic of the thread, before we got sidetracked about resort fees...

On Thanksgiving, we strolled about the SLS. The place was very quiet. At most there were 200 people in the casino. Some hoity toity restaurants and some mediocre service at the VP bar. I hit a royal and we got the hell out of there. Went over to Circus Circus. Holy crap. Circus Circus was a madhouse. There must have been 50 people just in parking garage #2. Inside was just wall to wall people. We ate a great meal at the Circus Circus Steakhouse and ventured into the casino afterwards. It was just too much chaos for us and he hightailed it out of there, back to parking garage #2 and left.

I know which casino made more money that night.

The last time I stayed there, the minimums on the single zero wheel were $15 inside or outside...not a problem if you are playing chips valued at $5, but a bit of a pain if you are playing chips valued at $1. If I remember right, the single zero wheel is close to the crapless craps table. Find one and you should be able to find the other.

I've stayed there 3 times and enjoyed the casino and the accommodations. I would stay there again.