Dive/historic tour of Vegas-area casinos

Mrs. smooth booked our Vegas plane tickets to celebrate our wedding anniversary this month and my 50th birthday next month. On this Vegas trip, I wanted to do something different. Usually on my Vegas trips, I see the newest casinos. In the ‘90s, I went to the Monte Carlo, Bellagio, Paris, and The New Aladdin. In the 2000s, the Mrs. and I visited the Venetian, Wynn, and Encore. This time, I wanted to see Old Vegas.

Every summer in the 1970s, my parents took me to casinos in Reno and Lake Tahoe, and that meant I played a lot of pinball. Bally at that time was the leading manufacturer of both pinball machines and slot machines—they both had a certain graphical and mechanical style and feel that I’d always liked. Of course, I could never play the slot machines, but I looked at them with awe as I walked through casinos on the way to restaurants or arcades. Mrs. smooth, a wonderful gal, bought me a 1978 Bally slot machine for our 10th anniversary!

So I’ve had an ongoing quest on play old slot machines, and old coin-operated machines in general. I’ve always been interested in history. “Back to the Future” in 1985 was a movie that changed my life. I realized then that I liked 1950s music more than ‘80s music. I would love to travel back in time and experience what life was like. So I did the best I could with this Vegas trip.

SATURDAY
We flew in on August 3. I booked a rental car through Hotwire months before for $180/3 days. A couple weeks before, I checked rates and rebooked for $90/3 days! We arrived in the evening and were hungry, so the Mrs. found a Thai restaurant near the airport. Valley Thai on E. Warm Springs Rd. was excellent. Only one other couple was there when we arrived. We had a light dinner, including a free Thai iced tea with Yelp check-in. I chatted with the owner, who said most of their business is lunch and take-out dinners. The family business moved to Las Vegas from New Jersey.

I had booked an 8:20 p.m. tour of the Neon Museum and it was a big mistake trying to check in to our hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. We got to the crowded strip and decided instead to go straight to the museum, which is located east of Downtown Las Vegas. Fortunately, there’s adjacent free parking and we arrived at the lobby at 8:25 p.m. The lobby is the restored La Concha Motel lobby from 1961 that was moved to its current site in 2005. A friendly docent gave us a quick introduction to the beginning of the tour, including the original Aladdin Casino’s lamp, before we caught up to the regular tour.

Our docent was great, providing lots of history about both casinos and local businesses like motels, bars, and shops. Many early hotels and casinos used Old West/frontier/desert themes (with inaccurate Native American depictions in their neon). In the 1950s, the cowboy Vegas Vic wasn’t just on Fremont Street—he could be seen all over Las Vegas! I didn’t make the connection that hotels like Stardust and the New Frontier during the late ‘50s were Vegas themes that ushered in the space craze akin to Buzz Lightyear pushing out Sheriff Woody.




Because we were late, I missed the instructions that there’s no video recording. So toward the end of the tour when I was recording the huge Hard Rock Cafe neon sign, a docent approached to tell me there was no recording. I felt like a jerk afterward because I was recording most of the time while other people on the tour were not. I should have noticed that!



Afterward, we saw the “Brilliant!” show at the Neon Boneyard, which is an extra ticket. It’s $28 for an hour-long Neon Museum guided tour, and $23 for the half-hour “Brilliant!”—but a combo ticket is $42. I would say that if you really enjoy Vegas history—and music from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Liberace, Ann-Margaret, and Elvis—you’ll enjoy Brilliant! It’s a really well-produced computer-animated projection of vintage Vegas.


Our first gambling stop was at the California Hotel & Casino. In the 1970s, Las Vegas became the “ninth island” to Hawaiians because of great marketing by Sam Boyd, so I wanted to check out the aloha vibe—it’s still there! One special is ox tail soup, available at the Market Street Café (the “coffee shop”)—starting at 11 p.m. until they run out. A big line was there right at 11 p.m., but they seated people quickly. They already ran out of the Saturday lau lau special, so I ordered Portuguese sausage with egg and rice. The Mrs. ordered ox tail soup. At $10.99, it doesn’t seem like a “special,” but I’ve tried to make it, and it’s pretty expensive just gathering the ingredients. And mine sucked. Their meat was tender and the broth was flavorful and not salty—so I say it was well worth it! More vegetables would be my only suggestion.



As far as gambling, I cracked open my brand new American Casino Guide. The players club folks were very friendly when I signed up. They said I could use a second coupon after midnight, so I decided to use the match play coupon later, and first use $10 in free play after playing $20 in slots or video poker. However, there was a snafu. They give $5 in free play to all new members, which I was supposed to use first. I did, then I tried redeeming my $10 in free play. It didn’t work. Long story short: I didn’t get it, I lost $18.50 in video poker and the players club folks were gone before the 1 p.m. posted hours, so I didn’t get my match play, either.



I did wind up playing coin-operated quarter 97.87% DDB (9-5) video poker, which was not as good I thought it would be, but I got a full house on the second hand and cashed out with $8.75 in winnings. Though I loved the sound of coins dropping into the tray, I realized that inserting 5 coins into a machine was more tedious than fun. It was pleasant playing alongside other video poker players—it felt like I was playing with aunts and uncles. I felt the aloha spirit! Blackjack was single-deck 6-5 so I passed. You’re supposed to spend at least $20 on food to validate for free parking, which I did, but when we drove out of the garage, nobody was there to take the ticket.




SUNDAY
Another way to enjoy history, especially pop culture items, is to attend an auction. I got up early in anticipation of the 11 a.m. live auction held every first Sunday at McManus Auctions, which is less than a 10-minute drive east of McCarran Airport. The Mrs. was still sleeping, so I walked out of our Polo Towers hotel room for a stroll along the Strip. Next door is the Hawaiian Marketplace plaza, which has an assortment of restaurants. They all seem perfectly fine, but none look particularly exciting and the theme no longer applies, so I feel the parts don’t help the sum of the space. People on Yelp describe it as “lame,” “trashy,” and “eerie.” I noticed there are new (to me) pedestrian bridges to cross over Harmon Ave. and get to Planet Hollywood and Cosmopolitan. I stopped by Walgreens to get some fruit, and almost bought a $5 bottle of Fiji water until I remembered I planned to get a $7.99 steak dinner later.



Earlier in the week I checked McManus’s website for what would be up for bid at today’s auction. There was a good assortment of pop culture like toys, movie posters, and items related to Michael Jackson, the Beatles, and pro athletes. I would have liked to have seen more casino merchandise, but they had only one unremarkable slot machine and a common video poker machine. They also have plenty of jewelry, coins, guns, art, and furniture. I did bid on some toys, but wanted them only if they were a bargain. Each winning bid requires an additional 10% buyers fee—13% if paying by credit card. Overall, the auction warehouse was comfortable and interesting. And the cashiers who check you in were friendly. It was a good experience.




My next stop was the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign because I hadn’t been there since they built a parking lot, which I originally thought was a good idea. However, when we got close, there were at least 50 people lined up in the 100-degree noontime heat to take pictures. Forget it! Also, I now think that the feeling of driving past the sign is ruined because it used to be a lone beacon of welcome to the city, and now it feels like a cheesy tourist trap.

We continued on to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, where the last day of the country’s biggest Star Trek convention was taking place. I’m a big Star Trek fan, and it was just a lucky coincidence the Mrs. booked our trip during that period. I just wanted to check out the scene— I didn’t want to spend the whole day there, plus admission was $65. We met a nice woman in an Andorian costume, who took a picture with me. A nice couple took a picture of the Mrs. and me in front of the huge Starfleet insignia at the convention center lobby, and we took one of them. They gave us a beautiful, custom-designed pin that refers to Captain Pike’s catchphrase “Hit it,” with a note that a donation to the Lubee Bat Conservancy or ACLU would be appreciated.




Afterward we got lunch at Guy Fieri’s El Burro Borracho taco stand (the main restaurant wasn’t open yet) and shared an order of 3 tacos and a chips & salsa. There were just two people working at the stand, and the cook got one of the taco orders mixed up, so she gave us all four tacos instead of dumping one—I felt like it was a very non-corporate thing to do!

We went to check out the poker room and two people were sitting there waiting for the next tournament to start. It was a $70 buy-in and one guy pleaded with us to join, otherwise it would be cancelled in 5 minutes. The staff said there was a guaranteed $300 to the winner, $200 to second place. The guy waiting said “you have a 50-50 chance of winning!” We knew this wasn’t the case, but decided to enter. Another person joined right before we started.

On the fourth hand, from under the gun, I woke up with pocket kings, so I raised 3x the BB to 600. The next player re-raised to 1200. The player on the button bet 5000, or half the starting chips. The blinds folded, and I knew I likely facing pocket aces. I knew my only decision was to go all-in or fold. I chose all-in anyway. The raiser to 1200 folded, and the player on the button called. Sure enough: KK vs. AA. No help from the board—I was out.



I decided not to re-buy. I had a $70 poker story. I rationalized that had it been a cash game, I’d have lost $100, so I actually saved $30. Eventually it was an 8-player tournament and one of the newcomers went on a hot streak. He also had KK all-in against AA, but he flopped a K. Later, he went all in with pocket jacks and was covered by queens, but flopped quads! Mrs. smooth played for a long time but eventually luck wasn’t on her side. It was good fun that we talked about for a long time. My coworker, who played in this year’s WSOP main event, said he would have gone all-in with KK in that spot.

The “secret” steak dinner at Ellis Island Casino was something I knew about for more than a decade—back when it was $5.99—but I just never made it out there. Time to right that wrong. I went to the players club desk to sign up. They have a basket on the desk with canceled playing cards and I noticed someone walked up and took the last one. I swiped my new players card to get a voucher for the $9.99 steak dinner, then played four hands of JoB (8-5) at $1.25 to finish down $3.75—just to get another voucher for the $7.99 steak dinner. But I also happened to get a free beer voucher. A beer is no longer included with the dinner, and I used the beer voucher after dinner.



The server allowed us to use both the $9.99 and $7.99 dinner vouchers. The Mrs. ordered her steak medium, and I ordered mine medium-rare, though they came out nearly identical. In fact, I thought hers was a little more rare. In both cases, the steak was thick, and juicy on the inside. It was a tad dry on the outside, but the charred grill marks compensated with flavor. I also got a cheesecake slice for my birthday, which the Mrs. really loved—it was on the soft side, kind of like eating a thick custard. I was relieved she liked both the steak and dessert—I had always fretted about taking her to a dive casino and having a bad dinner. But the inside looks pretty nice now after its recent renovation. A $20 Vegas dinner for two was a great deal and well worth the decade-long wait!



I didn’t have trouble using my ACG coupon to get a free tee-shirt after $20 of slot play. I finished down $16 in IGT’s “Frequent Flyer” and “Dam Lumberjack Beavers” slots, went to the players club with my coupon, swiped my card, and got a shirt voucher. They have several shirt designs to choose from.



The Mrs. and I played some 3-2 blackjack with a $5 minimum. She was playing the “Buster Bet” side bet, but the dealer rarely busted, even on bust cards. He was a really friendly dealer and was trying to facilitate a good time. Too bad we couldn’t have better luck. I finished down $75. I hadn’t played craps for a long time, so I rolled some bones at the $5 table and did fairly well. Ultimately I finished the craps session down $5.

We made a quick stop at the El Cortez, which is the oldest Las Vegas casino in continuous operation. It was much nicer than I expected—it seems to have been renovated with a “classic casino” theme. I didn’t feel like playing, though, even though I came to see the “coin droppers.” There were a couple banks of dollar coin slots, but my memories of the 1990s came back wherein I’d quickly lose $40 and be frustrated. Lots of coin video poker machines (made in 1996 according to one side label) were available, but I didn’t feel like playing. Someone hit quads with a kicker on DDB and was waiting for an attendant—a throwback inconvenience!





On to Palace Station, our favorite casino in our last Vegas trip. Sadly, our favorite game Asian Poker was removed 3–4 months ago, according to the English pit boss who we remembered from last time. They had two Pai Gow Tiles tables running, $10 and $25. This time, the players were all Asian, but there was another beginning player so I didn’t feel any pressure. They still have very generous pours for their drinks—I had a Dewar’s just like last time.


After awhile, the players did "group banking” described in this trip report. I didn’t know what was happening, but played along. Later, in one hand I believe I correctly split my hand according to “Wizard Way,” even though I could have made a 9—something like 5-6 instead of 9-2. I wound up losing instead of pushing—however the dealer called over to the Asian pit boss, who gave the direction to push the hand for me! At one point I was up $35, but eventually finished up only $5.



We got some delicious late night Japanese tapas on Spring Mountain Rd., then called it a night.



Coming soon: Part II—Monday and Tuesday

Thanks for this post. I enjoy reading about Vegas other than the strip. California casino has some 10-7 DB but ticket in/out

By "soon," I meant in about a year!

MONDAY

We stayed at the Polo Towers hotel, which is a timeshare property owned by Diamond Resorts. We bought a "sampler" package a couple years earlier, so we used points from our package for the stay — but anyone can book a room through the hotel website. The resort is located slightly off the Strip, behind the Hawaiian Marketplace and across the street from the Aria. The best aspects of Polo Towers are the spacious rooms, a kitchen, and proximity to the center of the strip, especially Planet Hollywood Casino.



It's a good place for families to stay, especially if you want to be economical and cook your own food while in Vegas. The downside is the room decor looks dated, but everything is functional and comfortable.



After a light lunch at Hawaiian Marketplace, it was time to hit the road!

Because this was a history tour of Las Vegas, I had to visit Cal-Nev-Ari Casino, which has been in the news because the entire town of Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada, was for sale at $8 million starting in 2016 and still was as of 2019. It's about an hour drive southeast of Las Vegas. The casino is slots/video poker only, and also has a restaurant, bar, and the town's post office.

I wanted to hang out in the restaurant, but because we already had lunch, I ordered an ice cream sundae and the Mrs. had a Coke. She remarked that the decor reminded her of the hotel in The Shining. I kinda see that, and wouldn't mind playing with them forever and ever and ever...



We were the only customers when we arrived. While we waited for the sundae, I enjoyed looking at their 50 year anniversary wall with photos and town history. I also played the two songs that I know on their piano, which really needed a tuning. The employees gave me a nice round of applause.



The staff were very friendly, and our server even went to the bar to get us a pack of peanuts and a few maraschino cherries for our sundae.



On to the gambling machines! I was ecstatic to be playing their very old slot machine/video poker games because usually when a game is removed from a casino, it's gone forever. One still around was the Sneak Peek Poker game, which takes only nickels. It was made around 1998 by Sigma Gaming, the same company that made the beloved Sigma Derby. As a collector of vintage slot machines and arcade video games, I just loved seeing and playing this game "in the wild." It's the kind of playable history that won't be around much longer.

Another amusing game there was a multi-game machine by VLC called Winning Touch. Though I'm a big fan of IGT games, I just loved the unusual sounds, look, and feel of a different company's approach to these games. Its sounds and graphics are similar to Nintendo Entertainment System games. This machine had an unusual setting: I was playing video blackjack at 2 cents/hand, and a win paid only 3 for 2, but a blackjack paid 12 for 2 (10 to 1). Somebody please do the math!



While I was playing, the Mrs. talked to the bartender about small town life. She wasn't really into the dive casino experience, but wanted me to be happy, and was a trouper by coming along and chatting it up with people. Their stories were the history part of the tour that interested her. When it was time to go, I heard that Nancy Kidwell, who cofounded the town, had arrived and was working in the post office. We told her that it was an honor to be able to meet her and visit her casino, and thanked her for the wonderful service we received. I thought about asking to take a photo with her, but decided that the memory of meeting her was enough.



Our next stop was Bullhead City, Arizona, to visit the store headquarters of the slot collectors community: New Life Games. Unfortunately, on that day the owner was on a service call. I pressed my nose against the window to see the machines for sale like a weather-beaten street urchin peering into a rollicking pub.

So, back across the border we went to Laughlin, Nevada. Time was limited, so we visited the place that started it all: Don Laughlin's Riverside Casino. In another thread, I mentioned playing the possibly only remaining electromechnical slot machine, a Bally 809 from 1970 — close to the model the Mrs. bought for me. After about plugging in nearly $5 in quarters, I decided I wasn't going to put in more just to win back maybe $1.



I really liked the atmosphere of the Riverside because it reminded me of 1980s Reno when I was a teen. Though I'm an old guy now, the Mrs. and I were definitely the youngest customers there. I noted that The Supremes' song "The Happening" played at one point — not a song you'd ever expect to hear in a casino now. There are video screens throughout the casino that narrate the history of Don Laughlin and the Riverside, and it ironically reminded me of Back to the Future Part II, in which Marty McFly learns the history of Biff Tannen and his casino. You've probably heard the saying that casinos don't have windows — well, it's not true at the Riverside. It has a beautiful river view!




At the poker room, the Mrs. played spread-limit hold'em, and I awaited a new game of spread-limit Omaha to start. The dealer let me know about their "Pingo" game, in which you can win $25 if you get a bingo by winning various poker hands. You can win other amounts such as $100 if you spell one of the letters in P-O-K-E-R with your card. If you can complete a blackout, you win $500! The table already was a fun group, and the Pingo element made it even more fun. I had a good session, winning $90. The Mrs. finished down, but said she enjoyed hearing the life stories of other players.



We returned to Las Vegas for dinner at Island Malaysian Restaurant near Chinatown. Starting with the roti canai (Indian pancake with a dipping sauce of curry chicken and pototoes), the meal was excellent.

After a spending the day in old casinos, the Mrs. requested we spend time somewhere newer, so we walked over to Planet Hollywood Casino for a drink at their main bar: Heart Bar. Amusingly, the DJ that night was playing '80s music: our demographic! Salt-N-Pepa in da house!



The talkative guy sitting next to us was already sloshed and trying to get more drinks, but was frustrated with the new comp drinks "green light" system for bartop slots. Eventually, he left. I wound up getting on the bartender's good side by mentioning how the Vital Vegas blog said that it might be a good thing for bartenders to have the new comp drink system. He asked me to write the name of the blog for him. It wasn't too long afterward that the Mrs. and I were also sloshed. Good thing we were done driving for the night! I went over to play no-limit hold'em and somehow managed to win $95.



TUESDAY

We packed up, but hit a couple spots before flying home.

The first was the Longhorn Casino. With my American Casino Guide coupon, I went to get a players card for some free slots play. When you sign up, you also get some free goodies. Then I went to the cashier — they just give you a slot voucher rather than forcing you to do things like put in a dollar and enter a PIN. I gave the voucher to the Mrs. and she got lucky on a Quick Hits slot, eventually cashing out $38.96.

If you like early 2000s slots, this is a good place. They have one of my slots, Creature from the Black Lagoon.



While waiting for our turn in the $10 buy-in blackjack tournament, we had lunch at the Chuckwagon Restaurant. Unfortunately, the food didn't match the atmosphere, as the meats tasted reheated with BBQ sauce poured over it.



The dessert display looked good, but our turn in the tournament was approaching.



The blackjack tournament was amazing fun. Some players were seasoned veterans and others were newbies like us. The dealers were patient and clear in explaining the rules. Some players bet agressively and had wild swings, while others bet the minimum each hand until the end. I busted out midway, but amazingly won the drawing to be in the final table. The Mrs. also made it to the end! Ultimately, the woman who flat-bet the minimum until the final hands wound up winning. Lots of discussion with players and dealers long afterward, including one dealer who mentioned that today's winning strategy sometimes works but still takes some luck. It was probably the most exciting times on the trip, and we vowed to play again some day.



But I had one more hand of gambling — with an ACG match-play coupon. I put $5 on the blackjack table, got a blackjack, tipped the friendly dealer, and walked away enjoying my $12.50 winnings!

Our last stop was Sam's Town, a place from my very first Las Vegas visit. One thing I remember from that 1991 trip is the long escalator down to the Bowling Center (too long for any kind of escalator challenge). I couldn't believe 28 years had passed since my last visit. I was happy I made the pilgrimage.

We walked around the casino, and I liked the atrium with the woodsy theme and the animatronic animals. I thought that perhaps we wouldn't mind staying there one day with the kids. The poker room had more Omaha games going than I had ever seen in the post-poker-boom era. One last bit of casino history to note is that Sam's Town has antique slot machines on display throughout the casino, including a Rol-A-Top model like the one that terrorized Franklin in a Twilight Zone episode.



This trip was a longtime dream of mine to "go back in time," and I appreciate the Mrs. for humoring me in my quest. I made a resolution for my last birthday: to not buy more "stuff" and simply enjoy the 50 years of stuff I've collected, including the memories. I will always enjoy the memories of this trip.

Great theme, great pix, great report. Well done, sir, well done indeed.

Now THAT is how you write an entertaining trip report! Thanks so much for sharing it!

Nice report. I thought the Longhorn had done away with its BJ tables?

Quote: billryan

Nice report. I thought the Longhorn had done away with its BJ tables?

Sorry about the confusion.

This is the second part of my trip report from August 2019 — the halcyon days before the pandemic.

Yes, the Longhorn no longer has blackjack tables. I’m hoping we will one day keep our vow to return.

And I really hope the fine folks down at the Cal-Nev-Ari and all around are staying healthy and can weather the storm.

Yes I thought this was the second trip, one year later in August 2020. It's just one trip, one year ago then?

Nice trip report.

During the decade or so when I was no longer gambling but we were still going to Vegas a lot, we stayed at the Polo Towers once or twice. It's not bad, and centrally located. A little less centrally located, but another non-gaming possibility, is The Platinum Hotel on E. Flamingo. Have stayed at the Platinum more than a few times; they have large, but sparsely appointed, balcony suites. The nearby Tuscany has a casino, but I consider it basically a non-gaming establishment since its casino is so small, and its 650 sq. ft. rooms during some years there in the mid to late 2000s, were as low as twenty bucks a night without even a players card if you booked them through the right off-site online agency. You could stay at the Tuscany for weeks for about nothing, and not gamble a dime anywhere in town.

That steak looks pretty toothsome. Can you still recall the taste experience a year later?

Quote: MDawg

That steak looks pretty toothsome. Can you still recall the taste experience a year later?

The Ellis Island steak is generally good. Of course it isn't Prime and doesn't compare to an expensive steakhouse but it is better than coffeehouse steaks and in my mind about equivalent to an Outback steak.

I always went for the BBQ special. It's a couple bucks more but I thought it was a better deal.

Quote: billryan

I always went for the BBQ special. It's a couple bucks more but I thought it was a better deal.

Oh no, give me that nice thick sirloin rare to medium rare please.

Medium rare. An aristocrat.

Quote: MDawg

Medium rare. An aristocrat.

The closest thing you are going to find to an Aristocrat at Ellis Island is a Buffalo slot machine.

Quote: MDawg

That steak looks pretty toothsome. Can you still recall the taste experience a year later?

Yes, I can still remember it. Juicy inside, charred outside. Definitely worth it if you’re nearby!

I was disappointed the Longhorn’s BBQ was nowhere close to being as good.

Quote: smoothgrh

Yes, I can still remember it. Juicy inside, charred outside. Definitely worth it if you’re nearby!

I was disappointed the Longhorn’s BBQ was nowhere close to being as good.

I am convinced the Longhorn is only good for breakfast.

In case anyone's interested, here's a video of VLC Winning Touch blackjack at the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino.

In my trip report, I said it's like a NES video game, but it's really more like the Super Nintendo console, both in graphical style and in timeframe (late '90s).

Anyone been there lately? I'm wondering if (and hoping) they're all OK.

Here are a couple leftover photos I uploaded but didn't link to my August 2019 trip report.

Roti Canai at Island Malaysian restaurant:


Sam's Town Bowling Center: