Terrible's Review
May 27th, 2011 at 4:09:19 PM
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I stayed at Terrible's Las Vegas on 5/22-27. What follows is my review:
Introduction:
Not much more needs to be said by way of introduction that isn't covered in the Wizard's review of the same property. I booked a five night stay based on a mailed offer that I received that included the first night free and subsequent weekday nights at $19. The offer also included $10 in free play and a 3x slot club points multiplier for "the length of my stay." I had stayed at Terrible's before; actually, on my first trip to Vegas. So this would be my second time staying there.
Location/Transportation:
You just can't get more accessible than Terrible's. The hotel is close to the airport (straight shot up Paradise), and is close to the strip as well. I walked to the Strip a couple times, and had no problem, even in hot weather. The parking garage is easily accessible off Flamingo. I like to use the "secret" entrance on the first floor instead of going up the ramp. I can always find a space, and is is literally just a few steps into the casino, or hotel. By the way, there is always a red Terrible's luxury stretch SUV parked on the first floor. I would love to roll up to Pure in this next time I have a VIP party. JimMorrison, take note -- I can hook you up with the Terrible's whip.
Hotel/Amenties:
The 380 rooms at Terribles are arranged in a rectangle around a central pool/courtyard area. Unfortunately, I left my swimsuit in Council Bluffs, so I didn't get to take advantage of the pool, but it looked nice, and had a hot tub. The north side of the rectangle is a "tower" with 6 floors; all the other sides have three floors. Supposedly the tower is nicer (they purport to charge more for it), but I stayed in the standard rooms last time and didn't notice any difference. My room was on the fifth floor, right next to the elevator, which was convenient. I didn't notice any wait for the elevator at any time, even though it was the only elevator for the "tower" rooms. Check-in was a long-ish wait in a McDonald's style line. I noticed lines at Terrible's were very variable -- if you hit them at the wrong time or with few staff, you could be in for a long wait. Other times, you could walk right up. The clerk offered me a choice of floors, which I thought was considerate. Being right next to the elevator was certainly nice, as I could roll right out of the room down to the casino and parking garage.
My room had two double beds, a large plasma TV (limited channels, so I didn't watch much), and a shower/tub combo. Other features included a coffee machine, and free wireless internet. I made a lot of use of the free wireless, which was nice to have. There was no fridge, iron, or ironing board, but the guest literature said you could get any of those things "on request." I thought about requesting one, but it wasn't worth saving some leftover prime rib and cream cheese for my morning bagel :) My room overlooked the courtyard and pool, which was a nice view.
There is a fitness room with computers and a printer somewhere in the back of the hotel. To be honest, I didn't check if it was still there since my last visit, but I assume it is.
The only complaint I had about the rooms was the climate control system. They used an automatic thermostat, but the way it worked was flawed: it would allow the room to get stifingly hot, than the air conditioner would come on full -- and I do mean FULL -- blast. This would keep the room frigid for a few minutes until it heated up again, at which point the cycle would repeat. I always ended up waking up early when it got really hot in the mornings. I had no problem with the bedding package. The other problem was the shower would sometimes release to tub mode unexpectedly while I was showering, so I had to keep pulling up the stopper occasionally.
I had no complaints with the housekeeping; they did an excellent job of cleaning up the daily glorious mess I made of the place.
Players' Club:
Terrible's has a pretty good slot club, as is to be expected from a competitive locals' casino. The card is called the "One Card," and is good at all Terrible's properties in Nevada (but not Missouri or Iowa). There are four levels: Red, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Everybody starts out at Red, but it is ridiculous easy to get to Silver -- you only have to earn 500 points, which is nothing. I had a Silver card, but when I checked in initially, the booth said because of "lack of activity," I had been downgraded to Red. How humilitating -- like I would ever be seen with a Red card. I immediately went to the video poker machines to make up my 500 points, and came back and demanded Silver. Yes, I need a higher Terrible's card to increase my self-worth.
I don't think I have ever seen as many promotions as Terrible's has. I made the effort to exploit every one of them. When I first checked in, the kiosk told me I had won $50 in free play. Great start, thank you. This was in addition to my $10 welcome freeplay. $1 in slot play equals one point on video poker. The card is good for .20% back on video poker, and I had a three times multiplier, so I was getting .60% cashback. Their best game is 9/6 Jacks or Better at 99.54% payback, so I was playing with a +.14 advantage as well as running comp.
It was confusing to figure out how many points you needed to redeem at the various outlets, but this is what I learned: 500 points=$1 in cashback/freeplay; 400 points=$1 at the gift shop or Bougainvillea Cafe; 200 points=$1 at the buffet (this is in addition to a tiered discount you get from having a certain level of player's card). The player's club will also comp a weekday hotel room for 5,000 points ($10 in "real cash" comp value).
Each day of my stay, it seemed like they were doing some swipe-and-win or earn and redeem promotion. On Tuesday they had some sort of fortune teller/crystal ball game on the kiosk, which I played about 6 or 7 times, earning a bunch of freeplay and 2-for-1 coupons for the buffet. I may have abused the promotion, since the next day when they had a "fishing" game, the kiosk wouldn't let me play. I also earned a Terrible's floppy hat on their "earn and redeem" day, without having to use points. There was some other swag that they had, but I wasn't interested since it was mostly beer and cigarettes. The hat proved especially useful in keeping me cool on the walks up to the Strip. Finally, I got a $75 comp to McCormick and Schmick's restaurant for earning 7,500 base points in a week. I thought this was a very generous comp. McC's is a great standalone seafood chain restaurant, for those who don't have one in their hometown.
Buffet/Cafe/Gift Shop:
I had two meals each in the cafe and buffet. As has been said before, the buffet is probably the worst in Vegas. However, between the Silver and the points discount, it was almost free. That being said, they should have paid me to eat there. I went twice: once for breakfast, and once for lunch. Both times, I kept telling myself there must be one item that is actually edible, but I failed to find one. For the lunch, they had something they called salmon, but it was grey colored -- they couldn't even bother to inject it with the pink food coloring that most salmon you buy has. Actually, it tasted pretty good, pink or no. Everything else really sucked. For breakfast, they had chili (huh?!) and deep-fried taquitos. Oh man, did I regret eating that chili for breakfast.
The cafe, on the other hand, is much better. The first time I went, I had a brisket sandwich. The sandwich was excellent, with a generous helping of curly fries. It was $5.99 before the club discount, and it was an off-the-menu special. I noticed most of the things on the regular menu were overpriced, so I recommend only ordering specials. You have to hunt around some of the promotional signs and literature to find the specials -- or you could just ask your server. I also ordered the $2.99 "Deuces Wild" breakfast special at 2 AM one morning after a night of gambling. It was very good, but I agonized over how much to tip on a $2.99 check. I hate these tipping situations. I ended up tipping $.75 (more than 20%), but I'm pretty sure I got some dirty looks from the waitress and the next table over on my way out.
Terrible's also has an extensive gift shop on the first floor, which is similar in selection and variety to the Terrible's convenience stores throughout the Las Vegas valley. My favorite part was the fresh coffee every morning, which you could get with a donut for $1.09. They also had a self-serve soda fountain with a 20 oz. drink for $0.96, which was a nice alternative when you didn't want to keep tipping the cocktail waitress for 4 oz. glasses of Coke. As I said before, they accepted points for all purchases (including alcohol and cigarettes) at a 400-to-$1 basis (basically a 20% discount over cash).
Casino:
I can't say many good things about the Terrible's casino floor. First of all, and most immediately apparent, it is way too crowded. They could take out about 20% of the slots and make it a lot more comfortable to walk around in (but God forbid they give up that extra revenue). It always seemed like someone was behind you lighting up a cigarette. (Another problem: too many smokers, not enough ventilation). Because it was so crowded, it always seemed kind of chaotic.
As I mentioned above, the best game is 99.54% payback Jacks or Better in quarters and above, which is available on only 10 machines near the craps table. I very rarely saw people playing this game, and oftentimes I was the only player at the bank. For some reason, these machines wouldn't download freeplay, so I used the 8/5 bonus poker machine at the Entertainment bar to play through my freeplay.
There is a small table games pit with two poker tables, four blackjack tables, a craps table, and a roulette table. The are two six deckers and two four deckers, with minimums from $5-$10. There never seemed to be many players, and people were going in and out all day. Nobody wanted to stick around Terrible's. The other observation I made is that none of the players seemed to be having fun. They all seemed deathly serious about their gambling, whether it be roulette or blackjack. In fact, the one time during my stay when I saw some guys actually winning and whooping it up on the craps table, the pit boss came over and said, "Hey, you're not allowed to have fun here." I'm not sure he was joking.
My own gambling:
I played $.25 9/6 Jacks or Better exclusively, except for a misguided 35-minute session at double deck blackjack. (Lost $65 betting $10. So what else is new?) I did very well at video poker. Despite not hitting any royals, I hit enough quads and good hands to keep myself on a fairly even keel/upslope for my entire stay. By the time I had completed my stay, I had earned 35,000 points, or $70 in cashback/comp. This easily covered the cost of my four nights hotel, as well as my meals in the cafe and buffet, in addition to all the free stuff I got. So (leaving out the blackjack part), I count my gambling at Terrible's a success. Like the Wizard, I wouldn't recommend playing table games here, unless you are taking advantage of the rebate for table games players, and instead only play the best video poker games with a multiplier.
Introduction:
Not much more needs to be said by way of introduction that isn't covered in the Wizard's review of the same property. I booked a five night stay based on a mailed offer that I received that included the first night free and subsequent weekday nights at $19. The offer also included $10 in free play and a 3x slot club points multiplier for "the length of my stay." I had stayed at Terrible's before; actually, on my first trip to Vegas. So this would be my second time staying there.
Location/Transportation:
You just can't get more accessible than Terrible's. The hotel is close to the airport (straight shot up Paradise), and is close to the strip as well. I walked to the Strip a couple times, and had no problem, even in hot weather. The parking garage is easily accessible off Flamingo. I like to use the "secret" entrance on the first floor instead of going up the ramp. I can always find a space, and is is literally just a few steps into the casino, or hotel. By the way, there is always a red Terrible's luxury stretch SUV parked on the first floor. I would love to roll up to Pure in this next time I have a VIP party. JimMorrison, take note -- I can hook you up with the Terrible's whip.
Hotel/Amenties:
The 380 rooms at Terribles are arranged in a rectangle around a central pool/courtyard area. Unfortunately, I left my swimsuit in Council Bluffs, so I didn't get to take advantage of the pool, but it looked nice, and had a hot tub. The north side of the rectangle is a "tower" with 6 floors; all the other sides have three floors. Supposedly the tower is nicer (they purport to charge more for it), but I stayed in the standard rooms last time and didn't notice any difference. My room was on the fifth floor, right next to the elevator, which was convenient. I didn't notice any wait for the elevator at any time, even though it was the only elevator for the "tower" rooms. Check-in was a long-ish wait in a McDonald's style line. I noticed lines at Terrible's were very variable -- if you hit them at the wrong time or with few staff, you could be in for a long wait. Other times, you could walk right up. The clerk offered me a choice of floors, which I thought was considerate. Being right next to the elevator was certainly nice, as I could roll right out of the room down to the casino and parking garage.
My room had two double beds, a large plasma TV (limited channels, so I didn't watch much), and a shower/tub combo. Other features included a coffee machine, and free wireless internet. I made a lot of use of the free wireless, which was nice to have. There was no fridge, iron, or ironing board, but the guest literature said you could get any of those things "on request." I thought about requesting one, but it wasn't worth saving some leftover prime rib and cream cheese for my morning bagel :) My room overlooked the courtyard and pool, which was a nice view.
There is a fitness room with computers and a printer somewhere in the back of the hotel. To be honest, I didn't check if it was still there since my last visit, but I assume it is.
The only complaint I had about the rooms was the climate control system. They used an automatic thermostat, but the way it worked was flawed: it would allow the room to get stifingly hot, than the air conditioner would come on full -- and I do mean FULL -- blast. This would keep the room frigid for a few minutes until it heated up again, at which point the cycle would repeat. I always ended up waking up early when it got really hot in the mornings. I had no problem with the bedding package. The other problem was the shower would sometimes release to tub mode unexpectedly while I was showering, so I had to keep pulling up the stopper occasionally.
I had no complaints with the housekeeping; they did an excellent job of cleaning up the daily glorious mess I made of the place.
Players' Club:
Terrible's has a pretty good slot club, as is to be expected from a competitive locals' casino. The card is called the "One Card," and is good at all Terrible's properties in Nevada (but not Missouri or Iowa). There are four levels: Red, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Everybody starts out at Red, but it is ridiculous easy to get to Silver -- you only have to earn 500 points, which is nothing. I had a Silver card, but when I checked in initially, the booth said because of "lack of activity," I had been downgraded to Red. How humilitating -- like I would ever be seen with a Red card. I immediately went to the video poker machines to make up my 500 points, and came back and demanded Silver. Yes, I need a higher Terrible's card to increase my self-worth.
I don't think I have ever seen as many promotions as Terrible's has. I made the effort to exploit every one of them. When I first checked in, the kiosk told me I had won $50 in free play. Great start, thank you. This was in addition to my $10 welcome freeplay. $1 in slot play equals one point on video poker. The card is good for .20% back on video poker, and I had a three times multiplier, so I was getting .60% cashback. Their best game is 9/6 Jacks or Better at 99.54% payback, so I was playing with a +.14 advantage as well as running comp.
It was confusing to figure out how many points you needed to redeem at the various outlets, but this is what I learned: 500 points=$1 in cashback/freeplay; 400 points=$1 at the gift shop or Bougainvillea Cafe; 200 points=$1 at the buffet (this is in addition to a tiered discount you get from having a certain level of player's card). The player's club will also comp a weekday hotel room for 5,000 points ($10 in "real cash" comp value).
Each day of my stay, it seemed like they were doing some swipe-and-win or earn and redeem promotion. On Tuesday they had some sort of fortune teller/crystal ball game on the kiosk, which I played about 6 or 7 times, earning a bunch of freeplay and 2-for-1 coupons for the buffet. I may have abused the promotion, since the next day when they had a "fishing" game, the kiosk wouldn't let me play. I also earned a Terrible's floppy hat on their "earn and redeem" day, without having to use points. There was some other swag that they had, but I wasn't interested since it was mostly beer and cigarettes. The hat proved especially useful in keeping me cool on the walks up to the Strip. Finally, I got a $75 comp to McCormick and Schmick's restaurant for earning 7,500 base points in a week. I thought this was a very generous comp. McC's is a great standalone seafood chain restaurant, for those who don't have one in their hometown.
Buffet/Cafe/Gift Shop:
I had two meals each in the cafe and buffet. As has been said before, the buffet is probably the worst in Vegas. However, between the Silver and the points discount, it was almost free. That being said, they should have paid me to eat there. I went twice: once for breakfast, and once for lunch. Both times, I kept telling myself there must be one item that is actually edible, but I failed to find one. For the lunch, they had something they called salmon, but it was grey colored -- they couldn't even bother to inject it with the pink food coloring that most salmon you buy has. Actually, it tasted pretty good, pink or no. Everything else really sucked. For breakfast, they had chili (huh?!) and deep-fried taquitos. Oh man, did I regret eating that chili for breakfast.
The cafe, on the other hand, is much better. The first time I went, I had a brisket sandwich. The sandwich was excellent, with a generous helping of curly fries. It was $5.99 before the club discount, and it was an off-the-menu special. I noticed most of the things on the regular menu were overpriced, so I recommend only ordering specials. You have to hunt around some of the promotional signs and literature to find the specials -- or you could just ask your server. I also ordered the $2.99 "Deuces Wild" breakfast special at 2 AM one morning after a night of gambling. It was very good, but I agonized over how much to tip on a $2.99 check. I hate these tipping situations. I ended up tipping $.75 (more than 20%), but I'm pretty sure I got some dirty looks from the waitress and the next table over on my way out.
Terrible's also has an extensive gift shop on the first floor, which is similar in selection and variety to the Terrible's convenience stores throughout the Las Vegas valley. My favorite part was the fresh coffee every morning, which you could get with a donut for $1.09. They also had a self-serve soda fountain with a 20 oz. drink for $0.96, which was a nice alternative when you didn't want to keep tipping the cocktail waitress for 4 oz. glasses of Coke. As I said before, they accepted points for all purchases (including alcohol and cigarettes) at a 400-to-$1 basis (basically a 20% discount over cash).
Casino:
I can't say many good things about the Terrible's casino floor. First of all, and most immediately apparent, it is way too crowded. They could take out about 20% of the slots and make it a lot more comfortable to walk around in (but God forbid they give up that extra revenue). It always seemed like someone was behind you lighting up a cigarette. (Another problem: too many smokers, not enough ventilation). Because it was so crowded, it always seemed kind of chaotic.
As I mentioned above, the best game is 99.54% payback Jacks or Better in quarters and above, which is available on only 10 machines near the craps table. I very rarely saw people playing this game, and oftentimes I was the only player at the bank. For some reason, these machines wouldn't download freeplay, so I used the 8/5 bonus poker machine at the Entertainment bar to play through my freeplay.
There is a small table games pit with two poker tables, four blackjack tables, a craps table, and a roulette table. The are two six deckers and two four deckers, with minimums from $5-$10. There never seemed to be many players, and people were going in and out all day. Nobody wanted to stick around Terrible's. The other observation I made is that none of the players seemed to be having fun. They all seemed deathly serious about their gambling, whether it be roulette or blackjack. In fact, the one time during my stay when I saw some guys actually winning and whooping it up on the craps table, the pit boss came over and said, "Hey, you're not allowed to have fun here." I'm not sure he was joking.
My own gambling:
I played $.25 9/6 Jacks or Better exclusively, except for a misguided 35-minute session at double deck blackjack. (Lost $65 betting $10. So what else is new?) I did very well at video poker. Despite not hitting any royals, I hit enough quads and good hands to keep myself on a fairly even keel/upslope for my entire stay. By the time I had completed my stay, I had earned 35,000 points, or $70 in cashback/comp. This easily covered the cost of my four nights hotel, as well as my meals in the cafe and buffet, in addition to all the free stuff I got. So (leaving out the blackjack part), I count my gambling at Terrible's a success. Like the Wizard, I wouldn't recommend playing table games here, unless you are taking advantage of the rebate for table games players, and instead only play the best video poker games with a multiplier.
"Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe." -Rig Veda 10.34.4
May 28th, 2011 at 2:43:45 AM
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you quit blogging?
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!” She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
May 29th, 2011 at 8:59:28 AM
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It can often be fun to go to a place that is a bit of a dive, but Terribles is more a dump than a dive. A dive has some redeeming social value, a dump is just garbage.
The too smokey is annoying as is the too crowded, but the real problem is the clientele. I don't know why they all find Terribles. I mean its not anywhere near the House of Detention or a Detox center so why do they come to Terribles. The food is really inedible no matter what the price. Sure The Venetian charges eight dollars for a toothbrush, Terribles charges seventy-nine cents.
Frankly, I'd say the place is not worth the disgrace of possibly being seen playing there. I'd rather be seen coming out of a Keno lounge.
The too smokey is annoying as is the too crowded, but the real problem is the clientele. I don't know why they all find Terribles. I mean its not anywhere near the House of Detention or a Detox center so why do they come to Terribles. The food is really inedible no matter what the price. Sure The Venetian charges eight dollars for a toothbrush, Terribles charges seventy-nine cents.
Frankly, I'd say the place is not worth the disgrace of possibly being seen playing there. I'd rather be seen coming out of a Keno lounge.
May 30th, 2011 at 7:11:21 AM
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.....
May 31st, 2011 at 1:40:21 PM
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Yes. I'm no longer traveling (besides the drive from Las Vegas to Phoenix), so I don't have any more roadtrip stories. I will post any interesting stories from Las Vegas, but so far it's been pretty boring :|Quote: odiousgambityou quit blogging?
"Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe." -Rig Veda 10.34.4
May 31st, 2011 at 2:28:13 PM
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Nice review, thanks. Are you going to stay anywhere not already reviewed? I pay for reviews of this quality.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
October 2nd, 2014 at 3:51:19 AM
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Silver Sevens got rid of their hand shuffle blackjack on their 6 deck games, and now uses machine shuffler. The cards are still dealt from a shoe, but the machine shuffles the cards. Not my cup of tea. Good news is they still have hand shuffle DOUBLE DECK pitch BJ.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:31:26 PM
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I don't think they have 9/6 Jacks anymore.
July 27th, 2015 at 9:46:22 AM
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I was here last week after a meeting. One craps was opened with 3x/4x/5x odds, only 1 side though so just one stickman and one base dealer. I was in for 180 all together with 20 bucks on slot and 160 on the table. I ended up walking out with an extra 125 in my pocket, dealers got 40 bucks. Dealers were nice and friendly to me, they took their time and make sure I got my bets in. Not a bad joint at all if I'm around this area next time I will def visit them again. Drink lady was quick too i got my drink within 30 sec lol it's a record time.
I was shooting on the pass line and played with everybody but it's 7-out all around so I went to the dark side. I got 3x7 outs in a row. I color up and left before I give it all back. Eh
I was shooting on the pass line and played with everybody but it's 7-out all around so I went to the dark side. I got 3x7 outs in a row. I color up and left before I give it all back. Eh
