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Burger & Fries (Station Casinos)

Has hell frozen over? Station Casinos is offering several late-night breakfast specials—from $3.99 (pancakes) to $9.99 (steak & eggs)—and a hamburger & fries for $5.99 served 24/7 in its various coffee shops. We thought it was no longer in Station’s playbook to offer value like this, but darned if that burger deal isn’t good enough to make the Top Ten. 

We haven’t seen a deal like this from Station in years. The casino company that became a powerhouse by catering to locals and leaning on value did an about-face coming out of the pandemic, essentially taking a margin-widening tack that meant the end of buffets and pretty much any kind of deal in the restaurants. The restaurant program at Station is outstanding, it’s just not predicated on value the way it used to be. That seems to be changing. We discuss the reasons why in the March LVA. Here, we concentrate on the particulars of this exceptional deal.

Where and When

In judging a value, where and when are important factors. If a deal is available for three hours one day a week at some obscure location, then it almost doesn’t matter how good it is. For this one, the where is several of the Station coffee shops, which means locations all over the city. They are the Brass Forks at Palace, Sunset, and Santa Fe Stations, the Lucky Pennys at Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock, and Game On at Boulder Station. That’s a pretty good where, and the when is as good as it gets—it’s available 24/7 at all the locations.

Bring Your Boarding Pass

The deal is available to Station Casinos Boarding Pass Members only. When you order, the first thing the waitress asks for is your players card. No problem. If you don’t have one, get one on your way in. It’s a smart move; they’re building their database.

The Burger

It’s a cheeseburger, served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. Mustard, ketchup, and mayo are at the ready. It comes with a mini-bucket of fries (no substitutions). You almost can’t find a cheeseburger for $10 or less anymore and you won’t find one this good for $6 anywhere. You can make it a double for an additional $2.99. A Pepsi with unlimited refills was $3.99.

There’s More

We tried only the burger & fries, but at the same time, Station added four late-night breakfast specials: pancakes $3.99, eggs with biscuits and gravy $4.99, Deuces Wild (classic eggs and meat) $4.99, and steak and eggs $9.99. These are all served 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Similar to burgers, the price of breakfasts has gone up everywhere, nearly doubling in some spots (egg shortage?). Hence, this is another good play, albeit not with the same availability.

Station BC (Before COVID)

For those who weren’t around or have just forgotten, Station Casinos used to be the King of the Deals. Perhaps the most famous was its 49¢ complete breakfast back in the ‘80s (people used to order six of them at a time). Even considering the time period, it ranks as one of Vegas’ all-time great deals. Then there was a $9.99 king crab leg special in the ‘90s that was just plain ridiculous. After that, the incredible Feast Buffet ran all the way to 2020, which was the last time a Station property has been in the Top Ten, aside from the traditional nod to Durango Casino when it opened. Quite a change in philosophy. Food courts ain’t gonna get you on the Top Ten.

The Verdict

We liked everything about this deal and it’s currently #5 in our Top Ten Values list. And this isn’t all from Station. The Oyster Bar at Red Rock has good daily specials, including $1 oysters and clams on the half shell on Tuesdays. And the Oyster Bar at Palace Station has just initiated its own “Oyster Tuesdays” with $1.25 oysters. Maybe there’s more to come. The vast Station network has the capacity to buy in bulk and create deals like these. Whatever the reason—Anthony Curtis suggests in his March COUPONOMY column that the casinos, as a group, might be anticipating a slowdown—they’ve finally made some moves to bring back that old Station Casinos feel. It’s good to see.

And yes, this was the bill for two. Nice.

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Resorts World implodes

Malaysia we have a problem. The signature American attraction of Genting Group, its $4.3 billion Resorts World Las Vegas, is a dud, a flop, dead in the water, stale, old news. Why do we say this? Because when 4Q24 numbers were disclosed last week, it was revealed that Resorts World LV had cash flow of a bare $1 million. And why is that significant? Because it’s the customary measuring stick for return on investment. Meaning that Resorts World’s ROI for a period that included Formula One Weekend and New Year’s Eve was so small you’d need an electron microscope to see it, a tiny fraction of a percentage point. (It was $58 million in 4Q23, for the record.)

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Strip explodes in January

Bobby Vegas: What to do while waiting for your MRB

Between the twin disappointments that were Formula One Weekend in November and Super Bowl weekend earlier this month, the Las Vegas Strip saw an extraordinary upsurge of gambling. Can it last? Who knows. It’s as unexpected as it is welcome, coming after six straight months of decline. Strip casinos erupted 22.5%, hitting $840 million. Statewide, casinos jumped 12.5% for over $1.4 billion.

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Buffet Update – March 2025

Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s breakfast buffet is Fri-Sun, 1 a.m.-12 p.m. is $19.95. Then their dinner buffet is Fri & Sat, 4 p.m.-10 p.m. is $24.95.

Cosmopolitan – Wicked Spoon: Daily Brunch is now 8 a.m.-2 p.m. instead of 8 a.m.-3 p.m. for $47 on weekdays and $54 on weekends.

Rampart – Market Place Buffet: All buffet prices went up by $1-$2. Champagne Brunch Sat & Sun, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $34.99. Lunch Mon-Fri, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $23.99. Dinner Mon, Tues, & Thurs-Sun 4 p.m.-8 p.m.is now $33.99.

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Nacho Daddy

Nacho Daddy is a local chain of three restaurants, one downtown, one at the Miracle Mile Shops, and one on W. Sahara in Summerlin. The first location opened in 2010 and Nacho Daddy’s claim to fame is for being the inventor of the Scorpion shot: Cenote tequila, salt, lime, and an actual scorpion.

Yes, you read that right. At the Miracle Mile location, Nacho Daddy displays a live-scorpion terrarium built by the TV show “Tanked” and this unique “attraction” has been featured on the Food Network, Travel Channel, and Animal Planet. The company claims that it’s served 50,000 Scorpion shots over the past decade-plus as a rite of passage for what we’d call “extreme drinkers.” Of course, the scorpions are dead and their stingers have been removed, but what they call the “ultimate drinking challenge” was an experience that we passed on during our visit to finally review Nacho Daddy.

This is essentially a Mexican-food sports bar with a focus, nachorally, on nachos: a dozen different kinds, with ground beef, six kinds of chicken, shrimp, filet, even lobster and crab and surf and turf, along with the usual refried beans, cheddar and jack cheese, queso fresco, and pico de gallo, plus sautéed onions, guacamole, and sour cream all topping house-made tri-colored corn chips. These plates, big enough for two big eaters and three mediums, range from $18 to $29.

Nachos noch-yo thang? You can also get soup and salads, flaming fajitas ($19-$26), burritos and enchiladas ($15-$17), tacos ($13-$18), a number of vegan options, and several desserts. They also serve Sunday brunch with a big page of breakfast choices and any kind of alcohol you can dream up at all hours. The Scorpion shot is $23.95.

We visited the downtown branch and tried the Fiesta nachos, the basic chicken-breast version ($17.95), and the flaming-shrimp appetizer, a half-pound of chipotle-lime-marinated shrimp served on a sizzling skillet.

Both were decent and plenty of food for two of us, with half of both left to take out. With a couple of beers, the bill came to $72 with tax, without tip. A bit expensive, perhaps, and the nachos don’t travel particularly well, but we’re not too picky about leftovers and we got a second lunch out of the deal.

Maybe next time, we’ll brave the tequila-marinated scorpion. Maybe not.

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Advantage Evangelist—On Turning a Strip Slot Player to VP

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

I met Sean at the Pinky Ring when he asked if I wanted a drink from the $300 bottle of wine he wasn’t going to finish and wasn’t even close to hitting his minimum tab. I politely declined the wine, sat down, and ordered two Perriers.

Sean works in tech, lives in San Jose, and is a Vegas regular. At 45, he’s ready to retire.

Hopping on SW flights, he frequents Strip casinos, is often comped, likes slots and roulette, cigars, good food, and high-end fashion. He always brings a low-four-figure bankroll. High-limit $25-$50 slots and roulette or other high edge games are just fine with him.

Sean is, of course, the casino’s sweet spot.

Being an Advantage Evangelist, I fervently believed I could change that. “Have you ever played video poker?:

“No. I never bothered to learn.”

I liked Sean. And I knew advantage player revelations would turn him.

We started out with roulette. “I like playing my numbers.”

Okay. I wasn’t going to discuss the 18-month study and 45-page paper I’d written on non-linear recurrence theory in roulette or the work I’d done with the wheel-bias king Laurence Scott.

I started by steering him away from triple zero’s almost 8% house edge. “On that $50 game you were playing at Wynn, Sean? That’s almost $4 per spin you’re handing the house.”

“Really? Wow. But I got this really cute girl’s number while playing.”

Sigh. Cost of dating, I guess.

Later, we started searching out single zero. Yes, it’s still roulette, but at least the edge is 2.6% not 5+% or 8%.

I also discussed the concept of advantage play slots, but it was clear he didn’t want to work that hard to learn. So we went back to near positive-expectation video poker and strategy cards. Sean wasn’t intimidated and was willing to learn, even if his first reviews of strategy cards left him feeling like a fish out of water.

I kept it simple, 9/6 Jacks or Better hold-the-pairs simple. I also steered him away from Deuces Wild as I figured the high volatility would scare him off. And I felt like the lone monk in the jungles of Vegas, bringing just one soul out of the slot darkness — and into the fold of the Church of the Lower Edge of Advantage Play.

Revelations: “Prosperity is yours, my son! Read your strategy card! Learn what VPFree2 and the LVA gods have given you!”

And he started winning. Hitting his first $450 full house changed everything.

“So Sean, what about slots?”

“Slots?! Are you kidding? I’m never going back to slots!”

Praise Jean Scott and cash those TITO tickets, baby. I’ve found my mission.

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Leaving After Hitting a Jackpot

Bob Dancer

A friend of mine, “Sam,” plays advantage slots. He was describing a recent experience on a Buffalo game. There are literally dozens of varieties of Buffalo games — some beatable by knowledgeable players — some not. It’s not my purpose today to discuss which ones are beatable — and how. I understand that this upsets some of my readers who want me to tell them more about beating slots, but that’s not what I want to write about.

One feature of most of these games is that, in addition to the “regular” way of winning, if you’re dealt three gold coins, you get eight free spins. While those spins are being played, you can earn an additional five or eight free spins by being dealt two or three gold coins, respectively. Sometimes you can accumulate 40 or more free spins during this process. 

During these free spins, the wild card symbols get multipliers. Your biggest scores come when you get one or more buffalos in the first column, wild cards with multipliers in the second, third, and fourth columns — and if you’re really lucky, more buffalos in the fifth column. The wild card multipliers work on other symbols in addition to buffalos, but usually it’s the multiplied buffalo symbols that provide the biggest wins.

It was one of these free spin situations that prompted Sam to talk to me. He was playing less than $1.50 per hand and after 56 free spins that started with three gold coins, ended up with an $1,800 jackpot. While other numbers in the game screamed “Play!” to the knowledgeable player, Sam decided to quit. After all, he argued, a jackpot this size is rare on games played for stakes this size. Hitting two or more such jackpots close together is rarer still. So, he decided to lock up his win and quit. 

He asked my opinion on his decision.

I told him I would have continued to play. While these machines return a certain amount over time, “time” is measured in the hundreds of thousands (or more) hands. His recent jackpot has nothing to do with the short-term expectation on the machine. Since the indicators said to play, I would play. I walk all over casinos looking for such opportunities.

Sam also plays video poker. On several occasions, he has hit a royal flush, four aces, or other sizeable jackpot and continued to play. He accepts that in video poker one hand doesn’t influence what is coming next, but somehow, he thinks it’s different in slots.

Video poker is a game of skill, he correctly argues. There is skill in identifying the pay schedule and in playing every single hand. Slots, argues Sam correctly, are largely luck. Although there is skill in determining if various progressives on a slot machine make the game worth playing, and leaving the game after certain things happen, the basic playing of the game requires no skill at all. You hit the button and take what you get.

While most slot pros quit playing a slot machine when one or more progressives on the game are reset, hitting one of these free spin bonus rounds doesn’t count as a progressive being reset. These free play bonus rounds simply give you ammunition to continue playing. 

Sometimes a jackpot is hit during the free spins, and in those cases, you usually should quit playing after the free plays are finished. At a minimum, you should re-evaluate and see if conditions remain ripe for continuing.

I never thought of this as a particularly subtle point, but Sam is a knowledgeable, winning player and he had it wrong. So, I decided that some of my readers could benefit from a discussion.

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Back to business …

But first, a quickie Oscar update. A major upset appears to be brewing in Hollywood. Last night, Conclave took Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Why is this significant? Because this award has foretold four of the last five Best Picture winners at the Academy Awards (Parasite, CODA, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Oppenheimer). So we’re pushing our chips to the middle of the table and saying put them on Conclave (+225). Also, I’m Still Here has pulled (decisively?) ahead of Emilia Perez for Best International Feature, -140 to +110. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming …

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