Repeated emails and innumerable phone calls to Casino Royale failed to yield anything other than stony silence. However, publisher Anthony Curtis says that the walled-off area is going to be transformed into a race and sports book, to be run by the William Hill chain, as he reported in last October's issue of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter. A sports bar will also be part of the revamp, with the two new additions comprising the focal point of the redone casino floor. It's apparently the trend right now, with both Red Rock and Westgate Las Vegas having undertaken major renovations of their sports books in recent months.
The only announcement of the project specified that it would be completed "this winter," but there's no way to judge progress, as the walls around the work area hide the construction completely. The area being converted is located about 10 feet from the existing bar in the spot where the table-games pit used to be. The downsized pit is now located at the rear of the casino, opening daily at 9 a.m.
Regarding the silence of Casino Royale, all we can say is that it's typical of this casino run by Tom Elardi, which simply will not respond to anything. The Elardi's owned the Frontier during the long labor strike in the '90s and the family took a beating in the press, which may have led to the stonewalling policy. Regardless, the casino continues to offer good value for customers, including its White Castle Hamburgers outlet, 100X odds on craps, and its Top Ten-worthy $1 Michelob bottles served 24/7.
Additionally, if you need to make an ATM transaction on the Strip, Casino Royale is the place to go. Its customer-friendly service charge is a mere $1. Other Strip casinos will hit you up for at least $5 for using their ATMs (we've heard of a $75 fee in a strip club and no, that wasn't for a credit card advance, it was the ATM fee!). Heck, even the ubiquitous Dotty’s slot parlors levy a $2 surcharge on ATM transactions, so Casino Royale is the place to go if you can't make it to your bank of choice.
