Where to Play In Vegas ???

I am heading to Vegas next week and was interested in some suggestions for places to play. I've been there before, so I know my way around. but honestly only recently (thanks to sites like this) have become informed of the importance of playing the most favorable tables. So where would you play??

Blackjack is my first love, followed by craps, and the occasional Pai Gow.

I am a low min cheap-scape basic strategy player, so that is the type thing I am looking for.

Staying center strip

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Take the Deuce bus to downtown, and make a beeline for the El Cortez. Single-deck 3:2 blackjack, usually $3 minimum, maybe $5 on weekends. Good luck!

Check the blackjack links on this website, they're awesome and very informative and will provide most of the information that you need.

For Craps, Casino Royale has $3 minimum and 20x odds. They also give x100 odds but only at a $5 minimum. It's central strip too.

The $3 table isn't always open though.

Here's a quote from the Wizard's review of Casino Royale:

Red chip players are made to feel very welcome at the Casino Royale. While there, I regularly scanned the tables to see how much players were betting, and it was a sea of red. Not a green chip anywhere, much less black. If you are a $5-$10 player, you should have no trouble finding a table at the Casino Royale, and you won't be made to feel like a flea.

Casino Royale Review

Second the recommendation for blackjack at the El Cortez--the best low-limit game in Vegas. Also, if you're staying anywhere near the Tuscany, you might want to check out their $10 min single deck 3:2 game (though the Tuscany changes it games/policies/promos about twice a day, so that game may be gone by the time you get there).

While you're downtown, you can stroll down to Main St. Station to play 20X odds craps.

Quote: helpmespock

For Craps, Casino Royale has $3 minimum and 20x odds. They also give x100 odds but only at a $5 minimum. It's central strip too.

The $3 table isn't always open though.

Here's a quote from the Wizard's review of Casino Royale:

Red chip players are made to feel very welcome at the Casino Royale. While there, I regularly scanned the tables to see how much players were betting, and it was a sea of red. Not a green chip anywhere, much less black. If you are a $5-$10 player, you should have no trouble finding a table at the Casino Royale, and you won't be made to feel like a flea.

Casino Royale Review

Be sure to ask for their funbook, nice coupons you can profit from.

Agreed that for serious gamblers the best place to play is Downtown/Locals' joints. No question.

However, you may not be that serious yet. If you want to stay on strip, I would recommend playing blackjack at the following MGM properties: Bellagio, Mirage, Monte Carlo, Mandalay Bay, MGM. They have the best combination of good rules with low limits. You can sometimes find a $5 game (with surrender and resplit aces) at the Bellagio! $10 games are almost always available at Monte Carlo.

For craps, I would go anywhere. I assume you play Line+Odds exclusively. You will be limited to 3x4x5x, but you can play in a good atmosphere. I like O'Sheas and Casino Royale -- that's for a downtown experience. Some strip megajoints will have a $5 game once in a while -- best bet is probably Harrah's, Flamingo, or Bally's.

Quote: teddys

Some strip megajoints will have a $5 game once in a while -- best bet is probably Harrah's, Flamingo, or Bally's.

The payoffs on prop bets in those places is not good. For example, yo at 15 for 1.

See the Wizard's blackjack guide for the good games. You can get decent games without going downtown. The games are generally better downtown, but the smoke is lots worse.

48.5% of Clark County slot play is off-strip
31.3% of Clark County poker is off-strip
13.8% of Clark County table games is off strip (mostly because of Baccarat which is a 99.86% a strip game)

M resort is very nice.

If you love craps but dont have the bankroll to cover 2 or 3 numbers with decent odds at the $10 tables on the strip, take a ride downtown or out to Henderson. Play at the Joker's Wild, one of the last decent $1 craps tables left in the valley, or at the Fiesta ($5 min). They took the craps table out of the El Dorado for some unknown reason. The El Cortez also offers a low-limit game. The Western, accross the street just opened up a $1 table, but with only double odds so it can't really be played because you need at least a $3 bet to cover the 6 or 8 with $5 odds.




I miss the old days at the Horseshoe (now Binions)... they used to have a $1 min game with 100 times odds. One day I hit a $625 jackpot at the Golden Nugget, pocketed the cash and walked back throught the Shoe to get to my car, but stopped at the craps table, and said "Oh what the heck, ONE TIIME!!!". I put $1 on the DC. A 9 point was thrown. Before I could even complete the frase "MAX LA- ", they guy fires back another 9. $151 in 3 seconds, gone. Ahh the good old days...

Quote: MichaelBluejay

See the Wizard's blackjack guide for the good games. You can get decent games without going downtown. The games are generally better downtown, but the smoke is lots worse.

Excellent advice

Quote: teddys

However, you may not be that serious yet. If you want to stay on strip, I would recommend playing blackjack at the following MGM properties: Bellagio, Mirage, Monte Carlo, Mandalay Bay, MGM. They have the best combination of good rules with low limits. You can sometimes find a $5 game (with surrender and resplit aces) at the Bellagio! $10 games are almost always available at Monte Carlo.

The last time I was at the Bellagio the $5 blackjack was at a single table that's on the end by the cashier's cage. It's a wheelchair accessible table, but there are other spots available too.

That whole bank of blackjack tables typically also has $10 and $25 games depending on the time of day. The rules are OK -- 6 decks in a continuous shuffler, dealer hits soft 17, normal 3:2 payout for blackjack, late surrender, re-split aces, and double after split allowed for a house edge of 0.46%. I play there a fair bit on my trips. I like playing for $10 as a blackjack and surrender work out nicer.

Quote: MrZippy1023

I am heading to Vegas next week and was interested in some suggestions for places to play. I've been there before, so I know my way around. but honestly only recently (thanks to sites like this) have become informed of the importance of playing the most favorable tables. So where would you play??

Blackjack is my first love, followed by craps, and the occasional Pai Gow.

I am a low min cheap-scape basic strategy player, so that is the type thing I am looking for.

Staying center strip

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Almost Strip blackjack for $10 and lower minimums is either dealt out of shoes, CSMs, or is 6:5. A $10 s17 shoe at the Bellagio is probably the best you're going to find in the area (if it happens to exist). But a mile or so down Flamingo in either direction is the Gold Coast and Terrible's. Both have several double deck 3:2 das tables and $5 minimums. Downtown's minimums are low, but the games are so-so at best, except the El Cortez. But the 'Tez comes with a couple of caveats - the play can be slow, and it's rumored they don't handle "big" action (like greenies) well.

BTW, don't take the Deuce unless you like it slow and scenic. The Strip & Downtown Express (SDX) is much faster. The hours and stops are limited, however.

For craps, Casino Royale is really all you need to know.

Just curious, which pai gow are you talking about? There's pai gow poker, which is available in a fair number of casinos; and pai gow tiles (the Wiz's favorite game), which is available at relatively few. I know very little about these games, so I'm of no help there.

I'll be in town next week, so maybe I'll see you around. Not likely if you're going to stay on the Strip, though.