Las Vegas Hilton (pre-LVH) - RIP big tables

I've probably mentioned elsewhere on here that I stayed at the LV Hilton about a dozen times over the past few years. In January of this year, the ownership changed, it became LVH, their player's club changed, and they took out their big table Baccarat games. Baccarat is my game of choice, and the Hilton Baccarat room was my favorite place to play after the Stardust closed. I don't plan on staying there in the future since, comp-wise, it makes sense to stay at the hotel whose casino you plan on doing the most play in, and for me that means that the casino needs a big table Baccarat game.

I have lots of photos of the Hilton, but most of them are either packed or on a hard drive that I can't access right now (and am afraid that I might have fried). But, yesterday, I saw a TV show (actually, it's British, so I guess it would be a "programme") about the Hilton that had been produced back when I was regularly playing there, so I wanted to share a few screenshots, mostly to show what their Baccarat room used to look like (since you'll likely never have a chance to see it with big tables again). If you're interested, the show was Louis Theroux: Gambling in Las Vegas.

This was the world's largest freestanding sign at one point. Might still be, for all I know. I do know that it doesn't say "Hilton" on it any more. Also, the sign advertises The Star Trek Experience, which ought to date the show. I don't think that I ever did the ride, but I did eat at the restaurant, and remember it being good.



Good shot of the Hilton exterior, with the sign:



Pulling into the garage. Don't buy chips from people in the garage; it's a scam.



Single zero Roulette in the Baccarat room. This player isn't using special Roulette chips because he's the only one at the table; those are all standard black chips he's covering the layout with.



Another shot of the high limit Roulette table. Single zero, but no racetrack (you can still make call bets if you know where the chips go). What I like about this shot is the fleas staring into the Baccarat room watching the whale betting four grand a spin. Places that use velvet rope to cordon off their Baccarat games get these guys along the rope, too.



This is the world's largest hotel suite, or was at one time:



Another shot of what is, or was, the largest hotel suite in the world:



Blackjack on the Hilton's main floor. Yes, I read the felt, too. What's funny is that the guys who were sitting on either side of the guy in glasses were crying about their losses while playing at a H17 table.



High limit Blackjack in the Baccarat room. S17 (albeit with a typo on the felt making "17" possessive). I've always really liked the felt in the Baccarat room. You can't really see it in this screenshot, but that chip tray was filled with maroon, orange, and purple chips.



The Hilton's special Baccarat cage (note the sign). Wonder if it's still set up like that now that the big table games are gone. I have a lot of very pleasant memories about this cage (and its bill counter).



High limit slots:



Shoving hundred-dollar bills into a high limit slot machine (I saw a guy doing this on three machines at once):



Cool suite at the Hilton. It's a superior double if I'm not mistaken.



Good shot of the view from that suite, with the Hilton sign in the foreground:



Now, what we came for: Big table Baccarat!



Again, I really like the felt in the Hilton's Baccarat room. I like the metallic designs on it, too (looks almost like metal inlay in real life).



I've played with this exact same caller on more than one occasion. I am ashamed to admit that I don't remember her name (can anyone help?). Note the mangled card and high-value chips; now that's Baccarat!



Good shot of the table (and some of the Baccarat room, with the main floor in the background). The man and woman standing on the left are hosts hoving around their big players.



Baccarat caller with other tables (mini-Bacc and high limit Blackjack) visible in the background:



Turning over the Player cards for a 6-1 win (all those purple chips paid):



Another successful hand. I always really liked those live trees that line the walls of the Baccarat room.



Good shot of the Hilton's chips (and supercool felt):



Anyhow, that's my quick retrospective/memorial for LV Hilton big table Baccarat games (and incidental review of the BBC2 show). As I've stated elsewhere, LVH's having done away with their big table games is a tragedy of massive proportions. But, on the upside, it gives me an opportunity to explore other properties in LV offering big table games. On the downside, I've got a ton of accumulated HHonors points that I have no idea what I'll ever do with.

very nice pics, it makes me wish i were squeezing right now!
looking closely at the pic of the "6-1"...
i think i can see that the banker has 6-1
and the Player looks to have 10-8....please confirm!

Looking at the screenshot, you appear to be 100% correct! The Player 6:Banker 1 hand must have been a different one and I misremembered what was going on (I had the show muted while I was making screenshots). Good catch!

You could do anything you wanted with the cards at those tables. I like to bend the corners up really slowly. I've seen them torn up. I've seen them eaten. I've seen Baccarat pens shoved through them and then launched at the caller like a missile. Possibly all at that exact table.

In honor of LVH big table baccarat please remove your hats. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn_iz8z2AGw

i have never seen anyone eat a card but i have seen most other forms of destruction.
one of the funniest/most dramatic card destructions i saw recently
a whale betting 5-10k per hand,
pushes in about 20k on Banker, to try to even up before dinner.
Player draws a 0-1, Banker draws a 3-3..
card for Player: 6, Banker needs 1 to tie and 2 or 3 to win...
he slowly squeezes, and then howls in disgust.
he then rips the card in half and flips over half of a four,
shouting "TWO!"...
everybody was sort of wide eyed for a second
until he started laughing and then everyone felt ok to laugh as well.

Nice memorial, so to speak. The whale was playing Lucky Larry's Lobstermania. I wonder if he read the Wizard's analysis of that game.

The Hilton is like a time warp back to the 80's. How
it stays open is a mystery.

Quote: EvenBob

The Hilton is like a time warp back to the 80's.

That's my favorite thing about the Hilton! Only the 1980s-style Baccarat plaques are missing. I've heard other people say that they also like the time-warp vibe (it's even come up on here before, if I'm not mistaken). Sort of an unintentional theme-branding on the Hilton's part.

Quote: EvenBob

How
it stays open is a mystery.

Being right next to the convention center probably doesn't hurt.

Quote: teddys

The whale was playing Lucky Larry's Lobstermania. I wonder if he read the Wizard's analysis of that game.

He won five grand on it within a few spins of when that screenshot was taken (after having put less than a thousand into the machine). Possibly the only game that he didn't lose money on that trip, at least from what we see on the show.

Quote: EvenBob

The Hilton is like a time warp back to the 80's.

Just like, say, every casino in AC save Revel and Borgata?

Quote: heather

Thanks for the write up heather. As one of the fleas on the rope you mentioned, I've never played big table bacc, and find it very interesting. I'm curious about what appears to be two dozen or so "lammers" in the silos in front of the chip tray. What are they for? Also, can you enlighten us on the values of the different colored chips? (lavender/purple, orange?, cardinal (cranberry?)?, red/pink?,) I recall seeing a t.v. show on "whales" in LV where it was noted that the Hilton was one of the only casino's to have $25,000 (or was it $250,000?) "rainbow" chips. I guess that this was pre-Mirage.

Time warp, schmime warp! I remember staying there when it was The International Hotel and Elvis was in the house!

Quote: Ayecarumba

I'm curious about what appears to be two dozen or so "lammers" in the silos in front of the chip tray. What are they for?

Keeping track of commissions on Banker wins. The dealers pay you for Banker wins at 1:1 and use those numbered boxes in front of the lammers to keep track of who owes what in commissions. Then you settle up before you leave the table. (I saw a guy play away his entire bankroll and then had nothing left to pay his commissions with. He left the table acting embarrassed. No idea whether they let him out the door or not.)

Quote: Ayecarumba

Also, can you enlighten us on the values of the different colored chips? (lavender/purple, orange?, cardinal (cranberry?)?, red/pink?,) I recall seeing a t.v. show on "whales" in LV where it was noted that the Hilton was one of the only casino's to have $25,000 (or was it $250,000?) "rainbow" chips. I guess that this was pre-Mirage.

At the Hilton:
Red/Green/Black - $5/$25/$100, as usual
Purple - $500
Orange - $1000
Cranberry - $5000

I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that they get bigger than that, but don't remember seeing them, if I ever even did!

Quote: s2dbaker

Time warp, schmime warp! I remember staying there when it was The International Hotel and Elvis was in the house!

Last I knew, that was still called the Elvis Presley Theater. I think I've got an International Hotel ashtray somewhere that I got used.

Quote: heather

At the Hilton:
Red/Green/Black - $5/$25/$100, as usual
Purple - $500
Orange - $1000
Cranberry - $5000

I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that they get bigger than that, but don't remember seeing them, if I ever even did!

Most big tables will have grey ($10,000), but they rarely if ever get used. And aren't cranberries usually $25,000?

I also watched this video (it's definitely worth it, you get a nice view of the Hilton's high limit room). The lavender are $500, the gold with pink/purple spots are $1000, the maroon with peach spots are $5000, and I would presume the fire orange in that single middle row of the chip tray are $25,000 (I've never seen a casino skip from $5000 to something higher than $25,000). Outside of Vegas, gray is $5000 traditionally, and fire orange is $1000, but that's in other areas...

When I played mini baccarat at a Caribbean casino, it was $10 min/$300 max, and the highest value chip they had were black ($100) chips. Now I know why baccarat always tends to keep at least $1000 chips in the rack...the high stakes players (playing table max) cleaned them out of $5 and $25 chips almost entirely. I was surprised the dealer didn't exchange some of the green for black...by the time I colored up and left about $180 ahead, it was 9 players on a 7 spot table (they just kept letting people squeeze in if there was room) and 2 pit bosses watching the table at either end.

Also, I finally got to see the crazy baccarat shuffle, since this casino didn't have an automatic shuffler. The feathering of the cards is definitely something to watch!

Quote: silversonic2006

Also, I finally got to see the crazy baccarat shuffle, since this casino didn't have an automatic shuffler. The feathering of the cards is definitely something to watch!

I've actually seen it done at a mini-Bacc table. Watching one dealer do it in such a small space so quickly, and then sorting the cards into four neat stacks for loading into the shoe, was pretty cool.

Thank you very much for reassuring me that I wasn't going crazy regarding the maroon chips. Like I said, it's been a few years, but there are some chips that you look at much harder than others.

I am actually not a huge fan of Louis Thoreaux (guy with the glasses in the screenshots), although I watch most of his shows. He tends to cover really interesting subject matter, but also comes off as hopelessly naive (which could be a deliberate interview tactic on his part). Like on this show, he tries really hard to get the Hilton host to tell him how much his whale guest had lost, with the guest standing right there (the host obviously just smiles and says, "you'd have to ask him").

Yeah, I don't know how one dealer can feather all 8 decks of cards together and not lose grip of the shoe...that was crazy to watch.

I was at the LVH about 4 weeks ago, and at that point, it looked like they had closed the high limit pit entirely (at least during weekdays). They only had one craps table with chips in the rack (the one that was working) and one $25 min mini bacc table out on the main floor. So sad to see that place go downhill...it was one of the only casinos that made it hip to be out of date...someone please rescue it (Carl Icahn? David Cordish? Someone?)

Quote: heather

He tends to cover really interesting subject matter, but also comes off as hopelessly naive

Thats an act he uses, and a very effective one. People
will often say a lot more to somebody who acts totally
ignorant. They want to inform him, to teach him. The
cops even do it sometimes in interrogation, act like
they don't know anything, when they actually know
everything.

I watch this documentary over and over - love it and gets me psyched for my casino trips!!!

Quote: aceofspades

I watch this documentary over and over - love it and gets me psyched for my casino trips!!!

I've seen it many times. I love the guy who
wins 10 grand at BJ right away and then
loses it and his whole BR later. He's soooo
happy at the start, swaggering around. And
sooo down in the dumps later, refusing to
go to bed or eat, just keeps playing and
losing. When he won, he had it all figured
out and when he lost it all, he was totally
baffled. Casinos love guys like that.

Quote: EvenBob

I've seen it many times. I love the guy who
wins 10 grand at BJ right away and then
loses it and his whole BR later. He's soooo
happy at the start, swaggering around. And
sooo down in the dumps later, refusing to
go to bed or eat, just keeps playing and
losing. When he won, he had it all figured
out and when he lost it all, he was totally
baffled. Casinos love guys like that.

Yeah he had "a system"!!! I think he did not sleep the whole weekend
Although I have experienced the highest highs winning and the lowest
lows losing, I still get my sleep in as you cannot play correctly when you are
sleep deprived. Although, I am not sure if that guy had any *ahem*help staying awake!

And the douchebag high roller. He knows everything about
everything in the casino, except how not to lose. He looked
like an idiot picking out his expensive comps, like he had
SUCKER tatooed on his forehead. Then in the end he refused
to tell Louie how much he lost, which was a ton. He's just
what I think all high rollers are, egomaniacs.

Quote: EvenBob

And the douchebag high roller. He knows everything about
everything in the casino, except how not to lose. He looked
like an idiot picking out his expensive comps, like he had
SUCKER tatooed on his forehead. Then in the end he refused
to tell Louie how much he lost, which was a ton. He's just
what I think all high rollers are, egomaniacs.

And the casino wouldn't give him a $5k Nieman Markup (Marcus)
git card - only $3k.

I love when I am in Vegas and the high rollers betting $50k
per hand or roll or turn of the wheel complain when people are
watching them - all the while with their sugar baby screaming
with each turn, blowing on the dice - the whales have that "don't look
at me" attitude but if nobody is looking then they think "why isn't
anyone looking at me?"

Pure EGO!

Last time I was at LVH this summer, they had roped off (ie. closed off) their high limit pit, and had one mini-baccarat table open on the main floor, along with one $100 min blackjack game working. Does anyone know if they closed the high limit area off for good, or if they're just reworking it? The cheesy luxury vibe that casino (especially the high limit room) had was the main thing going for it...