Upcoming trip in June, suggestions?

Hello all. Love the forum and the Wizard's wonderfully informative sites! My wife and I are heading to Vegas in about two weeks. We've been to Vegas two times previously. We go to casinos about once a month here in Missouri. I play BJ and craps mostly, and occasional VP. My wife plays BJ and penny slots. Our past two trips, we stayed at Harrah's properties thanks to some Total Rewards comps (based on her slot play). During our last trip, we had the most fun after we rode the Deuce downtown. This time around, we're staying at the Golden Nugget with another couple. We will be staying Thursday through Sunday. I think we're each going to have a $500 gambling bankroll, and $500 to spend on food/drinks/transportation/etc. between the two of us. Where do the forum members think I should concentrate my play (downtown)? BJ and craps being my games of choice...

I think we'll hit up Main Street Station for the crap game and the microbrews. Last trip I really enjoyed the Golden Gate for the Blackjack and Craps. Our favorite local blackjack dealer suggested we try the Fitz. He's pretty familiar with the way we play, and said our money would go a long way there. Anyone have other suggestions?

Well it would be nice if you could build some loyalty points for a casino near where you live. Probably the only credible location is the Boyd Gaming casino in Peoria, although I imagine that is a pretty long drive from your house.

Since you are staying for four days, I think you would be better off simply playing at the three Boyd downtown casinos. As you noticed Main Street has the best craps game downtown. The slots are fairly loose. According to the Blackjack Survey the most number of double deck games are Main Street as well.

Golden Nugget is a bad place to gamble for such a small budget. If you get comped at the Boyd properties you will probably eat at the Boyd properties. The Fremont has $2 Corona beers.

In general I would just stay at Main Street, unless you like hanging out at the pool. The pool at Golden Nugget is very nice, while the Main Street/California/Fremont shared pool is austere.

Stingme,
Sounds like a plan!
Downtown is now fine, and a lot better than it was years ago. I'm a local who works for Stations, but I like the Boyd properties: Sam's Town, Main Street, and the California.

Ideas?
1. Downtown crap games are fine gambling. Reasonable limits, experienced dealers, unpretentious, just fine. Main Street and Califonia are fine, the El Cortez not as much, me thinks.

Check out this site under "Hotels" (above) and click on "Region" to Group downtown casinos together - as it lists the hotels by their casino offerings.

2. Good slots, too. The Califonia has the "old school real quarters" Video poker on the second floor, before everything went Ticket-in Ticket-out, and it's a gas to play them for the old style taste.
3. There's more than gambling. Do pick up a Vegas guide, and catch a show one night. You don't have to blow $100 per person to see a great show, there are good value shows like the "Rat pack" review and the like. For this, www.lasvegasadvisor.com is just fantastic for show choosing.
4. Being downtown, you can hop on the Deuce bus to hit the strip. A must-do is sampling a buffet at a first class strip property: Bellagio, Wynn, etc.

Have a blast!

Quote: StingMe

I think we're each going to have a $500 gambling bankroll

If you're staying for several days, there is $3 blackjack and $3 craps at the El Cortez, which is two blocks east of the Golden Nugget downtown.

If you want to do something on the Strip, Sahara has a pit with $1 blackjack with very bad rules. Otherwise you're going to find mostly $10 and $15 minimums even at midday.

You'll get plenty of play for $500 downtown. Limits at Golden Nugget tend to be higher than the other downtown properties. (Gotta pay for those sharks!) Avoid the Plaza and Vegas Club. Everywhere else is fine. Main Street, California and Fremont are top notch -- well run with good food. Golden Nugget is classy. Golden Gate is another fine property -- small, with good shrimp cocktails. Fitzgerald's is a little dirty, but fun. Binion's/Four Queens are decent. I think you will be surprised at how good El Cortez is. Check it out! Also, visit the Western for a fun down-at-heel scene. It's an attraction in itself.

Quote: teddys

I think you will be surprised at how good El Cortez is. Check it out! Also, visit the Western for a fun down-at-heel scene. It's an attraction in itself.

El Cortez is a greatly under appreciated property. It's the last place left with single deck blackjack. I suggested sticking to the Boyd properties since they have most of what you want and it gives you a chance to build up points. However you could just as easily do that at El Cortez for the whole four days.

I disagree about Western. I can't go in that place because of the cigarette smoke. I've actually tried more than once and I never can get past the front door.

Thanks for the advice all! I have researched the El Co quite a bit too. I think playing at one of the Boyd's properties is probably a good idea. Even though we don't have a Boyd's location close by, the idea of hitting up their reward program is still a good one. My wife did pick up one of their cards in Tunica recently. In fact, I think they already sent her a room offer (for Tunica) on hardly any play.

We got tired of Harrah's, and the Strip in general, and had fun downtown last time. Last trip we played quite a bit at Golden Gate and Four Queens. We also hit the crap table at Binion's at about 3 a.m. It appears to me that Binion's is unfortunately on a rapid down-hill slide, or toward the end of that slide. We didn't sign up for player's cards at any of those locations because at the time I think we just planned on continuing to use Total Rewards. For a number of reasons, I've given up on that idea though, and that's why I started this thread. I'm sure we can get some free play or other goodies for signing up for player's cards anyway...

As far as shows, I doubt we'll see any this trip. Last trip we saw Penn and Teller, and enjoyed that. The couple that we're going with this time around aren't really in to shows, and really just prefer to gamble. That's fine with me. I think for dining I want to try the noodle house at the Golden Nugget, and possibly Hugo's Cellar at Four Queens. Otherwise, we'll probably keep our remaining food budget low. My parents just got back from Vegas, and brought home a few coupon books I need to sift through.

Sounds like Main Street, California, and Fremont will be on our list of properties to check out this time around. I'm a sucker for microbrews,so Main Street is very tempting.

I've mentioned it on other threads, but if you're looking for something to do (and I hate 'shows' too), consider going to the Neon Museum.

It's really just a junkyard full of old Vegas signs, but they are laid out well, and the guided tour is very interesting.

It's only a few blocks from Freemont. A short cab, or a long walk.

One thing: They require reservations. Check it out: http://www.neonmuseum.org/

---

Edit: I just saw this on their site:

Quote:

PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO CONSTRUCTION, THE NEON MUSEUM BONEYARD IS CLOSED FOR THE SUMMER.

Sorry about the teaser...