Question of the Day - 16 May 2023

That Associated Press writer, speaking from a near-perfect mixture of arrogance and ignorance, opined that the Western was the nexus of a maelstrom of existential despair, populated and patronized by $1 blackjack and nickel slot players. A veritable seventh circle of gambling hell. How would he have known? The only gambling HE ever did was splashing green and black chips around at Caesar's Commode, one ring-clad pinky in the air.
It was actually a place where you could have a good time for cheap, and yeah, the clientele was...ethnic. And of various species, genders, and sub-classifications. But "despair"? The people playing blackjack for the rent money were having as good a time as anyone in Vegas.
And they didn't charge a resort fee. So there!

17 photos and a video of the Western near the end

https://time.com/34565/the-last-nights-at-the-western/

Not sure if anybody remembers this website, but it was half parody and half good info. they described the entertainment at the Western as thus: "Sit down at a slot and have a conversation with a crazy person sitting next to you". And that was all they had for entertainment. My kind of place.

agreed , 'A PIT', WENT IN TWICE AROUND NOON , THE WORD SEEDY IS APROPO.WENT BACK TO EL CORTEZ - WOW , THIS PLACE IS 'REALLY UPSCALE' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JACKIE WAS A CLASSIC . 

I recall hearing stories that you had to guard your drink because homeless would steal unattended drinks. Wish I had visited. Now that Fremont East is blooming, I'm surprised that the property hasnt been reopened in some form. Giant dive bar with live music comes to mind. 

I took my boys from highschool and then later on work who came in from back home for a bachelor party. They LOVED the dollar drinks and I became "The Hero" for knowing of such a great cheap little dive bar in the big expensive city of Las Vegas. While I wouldn't call myself a regular there I did frequent the joint for it's dollar black jack tables and penny slots that took actual copper pennies. The specials in the diner were a great value too. 

This place ALWAYS smelled of fresh vomit when you walked in the doorways(which is probably why Anthony wouldn't set foot in there) but once you got past the entry way there was plenty of fun to be had for a very cheap price. 

On Vimeo there is a great time capsule to the old gal that can be found at https://vimeo.com/35557956

It is about 22 minutes long and has an audio appearance of Carl Ferris in the beginning and even has interviews with some of the staff and patrons. It's definitely worth checking out if you are interested in history!

Vegas Vic, that video is priceless, and thank you for sharing the link.

LVA used to have a poster, "Big Loser."  I forget his name. His TRs were humorous, always included something about "the Western", so now I know of what he spoke.  He was entertaining without being disparaging.  Don't know if he really ever stayed or played at the Western.

I appreciate the AP writer's coverage of the Western, 'where everybody knows your name.'  One point of contrast IMO: Most CWs at the higher end casinos (not much of a stretch) are pleasant enough but they seem rushed, stressed, never enough of them to cover their areas very quickly.  Time seemed to stand still at the Western, an atmosphere of acceptance no matter what one's station in life.

Candy

I was in the Western at least a couple of times.Once with my 21 year old son and friends.Had a beer.Played $1 Black Jack.Had thoughts of staying there one night for the "experience" but it never happened.I do remember " Cheapo Vegas".They had great realistic descriptions of venues.Too bad it's gone.It was a lot of fun!

I loved Cheapo Vegas! Their hilarious and irreverent reviews and trip reports enchanted me as a kid and wanted me to visit Vegas. The site was sold not too long after Stinky died and has since become a husk of what it used to be , but the trip reports live on at bigempire.com

The old reviews and site can be accessed by taking a trip via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (https://archive.org/web/)

I played once at the Western.  I think it was about a month before it closed down.  It wasn't pretty but I never felt unsafe.  $1 blackjack tables and cheap beer.

Was the coolist Vegas site ever and I garontee that it was "Anthony Curtis APPROVED". Everyone that loves AC and Andrew and LVA NEEDS to check it out.....

https://www.cheapovegas.com/

Watched the time video and seemed like a great place for the peoepl that went there and worked there. Cant' believe I never made it there in all my trips to LV. wish I did. Give credit to the owner for filling a need 

In one of our early MM trips (late 90s?) we went to the Western because we had a coupon (from either ACG or LVA) for a shot of tequila and a beer for $1.50. As we were leaving, I looked up at the marquee and noted that the regular price was....two dollars

Just like I remember, of my one & only visit, slide three, shows the odd wood floor, I remember from the early 90's.  Nice employees, yet strange clientele.  The short documentary video, shows how much the players loved Jackie and the place he founded.  At one time, a small jackpot, got you a Center Stage, steakhouse dinner, at the Plaza.  Who did that, what a generous man. I had a chance to meet Gaughan, at dinner: his staff loved him; as he set up a pension, "so his employees could retire with dignity!" A true class act all around.

Although my memory about my one stay-n-play at the Western (in the late 1980's) isn't that great, I have to say that I didn't feel unsafe there, despite the fact that I'm a guy who is on the low end of the able-to-defend-yourself spectrum.  My only specific memory about my stay relates to how odd the place was in terms of professionalism and class.  I made a call from my hotel room to my home area, Southern California, that lasted a few minutes.  Almost immediately after I hung up, I got a call from the front desk, which was manned by a 21-ish guy who had long curved hair and seemed like a surfer dude or a skateboarder.  He simply said, "That phone call you just made cost you three-sixty [$3.60]."  I remember an awkward silence, like I didn't know how to respond to that unexpected contact, and I couldn't think of anything to say except "Oh, okay . . ."  And then we ended the phone call.  I'd never had a hotel employee do that before, and haven't experienced it since.

My wife and I experienced Vegas for the first time in the early 90s. We didn't have much money, so were thrilled by $2 steaks at Binions and cheap beer at Slots-o-Fun near the Stardust. CheapoVegas convinced us that a day-time trip to the Western would be a hoot. We played our bucket of toll coins! Our fave Cheapo catch-phrase comes from a description of the strong drinks served at the Plaza, "the only ones stronger are the ones made by Steve's mom!"

so when I was still living in Las Vegas, a buddy of mine and I went because we knew the person that was running a karaoke event at the Western.  As we were walking through the casino, the stench of old cigarettes embedded in the place over the years was too much for my buddy.  Left rather quickly.  It was around the time when the Atomic was way more dive and sketchy.