Good times at the Longhorn
Wife and I went to get our new glasses on Tropicana and decide to eat at the Longhorn. After eating we get our aces and head to the Blackjack table. Both of us get a blackjack on our $5 limit bets. Wife wanted to play $10 in her favorite Asian themed slot. She heads off to it straight away. I put the $5 combining the 2.50 from each of our hands up and get another winner. Decide to leave the $10 up. Continue in same fashion and win the next 3 hands. Longhorn has a $100 limit. Let the $80 ride and get a 6and5 against dealer 4 for the double. Had to do it :-). Caught the 10 and took it home. While getting cashed out I hear my wifes name on the PA. She's over spinning the wheel for her slot section winning some hot seat thing. She gets $50 in freeplay. With her quarter at a time we're going to be a bit, lol. 20 spins or so into her freeplay she hits $80 on a quarter bet.
After that I had to head back to the BJ table. Red chipping I turn 20 into a hundred in less than 20 minutes. Everything was chalk. I decide to split off the table as the count was -10(6 deck game), not that it mattered. Wanted to try and retrieve the wife. I head back over and she's pretty much at the same point that I left her $75 in credits on the machine. Now she wants to stay to the next drawing and move to another section. Off we wnt to the other side.
I find a Munsters slot about 5 minutes before they do the thing for the wheel. Playing my 9cent and 18 cent spins on the Munsters I turn 20 into 25 and get a chip dropped on my machine as does the old lady and guy next to me by an attendant. Yeah, now I am going to get a spin on the wheel. I spun and got $10 freeplay. When playing my freeplay I accidentally hit a 90 cent spin on the Munsters and got 5 Eddie's or something for $25 + another 1.20 on another line. Cashout but there was still a couple bucks in the machine for freeplay. Decided to hit a max bet for 1.80 and got something to get to a picking bonus round. First pick was a 2x marilyn symbol and then wound up with 3 Grandpas for another $24.
At this point my wife is done and I head to cash slot tickets. She finds $5 in the restroom while I'm cashing out.
Craziest run of good variance for us ever. I know it's not as exciting as 18 Yo's in a row but I'll take it.
Sounds like maybe your biggest gamble of the night was the part where you said you decided to eat at Longhorn. LOL. Actually, I have never eaten at Longhorn. I know they have that steak special on the side of the building and advertised on billboards around Boulder Highway. Is the food any good there?
Quote: kewljSounds like a fun night. Do you want to explain what "get our aces" means for those that may not be familiar with Longhorn? (or maybe not I don't know)
Sounds like maybe your biggest gamble of the night was the part where you said you decided to eat at Longhorn. LOL. Actually, I have never eaten at Longhorn. I know they have that steak special on the side of the building and advertised on billboards around Boulder Highway. Is the food any good there?
FWIW, I have not been to the Longhorn at Trop, but I've eaten at several. Good value for your money, ok steaks, good sides, generous portions.
Quote: beachbumbabsFWIW, I have not been to the Longhorn at Trop, but I've eaten at several. Good value for your money, ok steaks, good sides, generous portions.
I agree but I think the discussion is about the Longhorn casino on Boulder Hwy.
Quote: beachbumbabsFWIW, I have not been to the Longhorn at Trop, but I've eaten at several. Good value for your money, ok steaks, good sides, generous portions.
Not the same Longhorn, Shirley!
Quote: beachbumbabsFWIW, I have not been to the Longhorn at Trop, but I've eaten at several. Good value for your money, ok steaks, good sides, generous portions.
Pardon me for what sounds like repeating what the previous two posts said, but I think the OP said that he was getting a new pair of eyeglasses somewhere on Tropicana Avenue, as opposed to being at the Trop itself.
I have only eaten breakfast there and I highly recommend it if you are not a snob on atmosphere. The food is good, big, and reasonably priced. I would relate it to eating at a truck stop.
*I don't mean "dump" in a bad way; I'm in favor of dumps. Dumps serve a fine and useful purpose. Different strokes for different folks, or for me in different moods, or for low-rent company I don't want to be caught in public with. Regular Longhorn patrons don't qualify as "public." And unfortunately I've neglected to hook up with any such company that's sufficiently low-rent recently enough to reliably contribute to reviewing what's on the menu at Boulder & Harmon.
http://longhorncasinolv.com/chuckwagon-restaurant-nv.html
Yes. There is a chain of mid-priced steakhouse restaurants called Longhorn Steakhouse.Quote: DrawingDeadBut there's apparently some other "Longhorn?"
Not to be confused with the Longhorn Casino, where Max evidently had a crazy run of luck recently.
Also not to be confused with Hickory River Smokehouse, a local chain of Texas BBQ restaurants in central Illinois and beyond, whose original store was known as Longhorn Smokehouse until promptings from lawyers from the aforementioned Longhorn Steakhouse, so the story goes.
I actually was confused by the similarity of the names and purely by accident discovered what may be the best BBQ brisket outside of the state of Texas.
Okay then, thanks. I should probably try to get out (of casinos, poker rooms, racebooks, etc) more. Probably not a good sign for my character & habits that this little eastside LV outpost of culture, commerce, and haute-cuisine was the one and only in my mind.Quote: JoemanYes. There is a chain of mid-priced steakhouse restaurants called Longhorn Steakhouse.
Not to be confused with the Longhorn Casino, where Max evidently had a crazy run of luck recently.
Also not to be confused with Hickory River Smokehouse, a local chain of Texas BBQ restaurants in central Illinois and beyond, whose original store was formerly known as Longhorn Smokehouse until promptings from lawyers from the aforementioned Longhorn Steakhouse, so the story goes.
I actually was confused by the similarity of the names and purely by accident discovered what may be the best BBQ brisket outside of the state of Texas.
EDIT to add: Thanks to the helpful link, I used the handy "FIND A LONGHORN" tool to discover that there are apparently none in or around Las Vegas, or within Nevada more generally, or in any neighboring states this side of Albuquerque. But impressively enough, it wants to help anyways by asking if I want to learn more about their 'international locations." So apparently those Longhorns are just not a far-west thing, and I'll go with that as my excuse. I have no excuse for my companion last time I was treating someone to a breakfast at this Longhorn. But that had nothing to do with whatever the breakfast was.
Quote: kewljSounds like a fun night. Do you want to explain what "get our aces" means for those that may not be familiar with Longhorn? (or maybe not I don't know)
Sounds like maybe your biggest gamble of the night was the part where you said you decided to eat at Longhorn. LOL. Actually, I have never eaten at Longhorn. I know they have that steak special on the side of the building and advertised on billboards around Boulder Highway. Is the food any good there?
I ate the special one time and although it wasn't the worst food I've ever eaten. I don't see a reason why I would go back. The steak was basically leather but otherwise the sides and the previously frozen lobster tail all tasted fine. It's not fine dining but it was packed with a line when I was there.
Quote: DrawingDeadI only know the divey dump grind-joint on Boulder, across Harmon from a Wal-Mart, which I'm real sure is not and never has been connected with anything anywhere else. At least I can't easily imagine that it would be.*
That's the place Max was referring to. Boulder Highway and Harmon, across the street from Eastside Cannery. BTW, Longhorn does have a sister property (same players card), the Bighorn Casino in North Las Vegas. I guess the kind way to describe these two places as very small, VERY Local type, low roller joints.
Bighorn Casino in NLV is located in a Latino area and the times I was there, if you don't speak Spanish you are out of place. Longhorn on Boulder highway isn't that bad, but most of the players are very local and very regulars (known to the employees).
One positive thing about the "Horns" casino is they have good rules and promotions for low limit players. Blackjack for example, $3 minimum, blackjack pays full 3-2 and you can double on 2 or 3 cards, which adds a few hunderets of a percent to the player. They also often have some sort of promotion where a suited BJ (like hearts) gets you an extra $5 on a $5 bet, which percentage wise is huge. At other times, that suited BJ is worth a six pack of Pepsi.
If you have matchplay coupons from any number of sources (like American casino guide or LV advisor) you can play the matchplays every 30 days, where as most places have a once per year limitation. For a low roller, these types of things make a difference.
Longhorn also has a daily blackjack tournament around 11am or noon, with a small entry fee of something like $10, but you get a "first card ace" coupon, to be used at a regular non tournament BJ table, which reduces the actual cost of the entry fee (in terms of EV).
One thing I hate about the "Horns" is that like many local type casinos they offer paycheck cashing bonuses where if you cash your paycheck there, you get an extra amount (I think spin of the wheel) in free play. While that is extra bonus EV, for those disciplined enough, it feels very "predatory" to me. I fear people cashing and blowing half or all of their paycheck before they ever make it home to pay the rent and put food on the table for their family. :(
Quote: kewlj
One thing I hate about the "Horns" is that like many local type casinos they offer paycheck cashing bonuses where if you cash your paycheck there, you get an extra amount (I think spin of the wheel) in free play. While that is extra bonus EV, for those disciplined enough, it feels very "predatory" to me. I fear people cashing and blowing half or all of their paycheck before they ever make it home to pay the rent and put food on the table for their family. :(
I am not sure that is any different than offering ATM's in casinos. Sadly, gambling is predatory and the weakest will always succumb.
Quote: DRichI am not sure that is any different than offering ATM's in casinos. Sadly, gambling is predatory and the weakest will always succumb.
Yeah people have to take responsibility for their own actions, like cashing a pay check at a casino, but I just have never liked the idea of casinos offering check cashing (especially with incentive like bonus free play), whether it is cashing paychecks or tax refund checks or back in the day when social security actually mailed out checks. To me that just feels predatory and crosses a line.
Quote: DRichThe Longhorn is a casino on Boulder Highway a few block from Sams Town
I have only eaten breakfast there and I highly recommend it if you are not a snob on atmosphere. The food is good, big, and reasonably priced. I would relate it to eating at a truck stop.
Can't say that I have ever actually eaten there, but I did eat at the Original Tommy's across the street (Harmon, not Boulder). Reportedly has its fans, but I thought the chili was far too bland (rather than spice it, they put jalapenos in it on request) and, for lack of a better word for it, congealed too quickly. The closest homemade example I can think of is, get a can of Dennison's (not Hormel, and not Nalley's) chili without beans, cook it, then take it off the heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Or should we call it the Ted Cruz slot?
Quote: MaxPenEver had one of those nights when everything goes right? ...
Congrats MaxPen (and Mrs. MP)! I chuckled because your story reads like the WoV equivalent of a "Dear Penthouse Forum.." "letter" (except for the part where it really happened) hehe
Quote: kewljThat's the place Max was referring to. Boulder Highway and Harmon, across the street from Eastside Cannery. BTW, Longhorn does have a sister property (same players card), the Bighorn Casino in North Las Vegas. I guess the kind way to describe these two places as very small, VERY Local type, low roller joints.
Bighorn Casino in NLV is located in a Latino area and the times I was there, if you don't speak Spanish you are out of place. Longhorn on Boulder highway isn't that bad, but most of the players are very local and very regulars (known to the employees).
One positive thing about the "Horns" casino is they have good rules and promotions for low limit players. Blackjack for example, $3 minimum, blackjack pays full 3-2 and you can double on 2 or 3 cards, which adds a few hunderets of a percent to the player. They also often have some sort of promotion where a suited BJ (like hearts) gets you an extra $5 on a $5 bet, which percentage wise is huge. At other times, that suited BJ is worth a six pack of Pepsi.
If you have matchplay coupons from any number of sources (like American casino guide or LV advisor) you can play the matchplays every 30 days, where as most places have a once per year limitation. For a low roller, these types of things make a difference.
Longhorn also has a daily blackjack tournament around 11am or noon, with a small entry fee of something like $10, but you get a "first card ace" coupon, to be used at a regular non tournament BJ table, which reduces the actual cost of the entry fee (in terms of EV).
One thing I hate about the "Horns" is that like many local type casinos they offer paycheck cashing bonuses where if you cash your paycheck there, you get an extra amount (I think spin of the wheel) in free play. While that is extra bonus EV, for those disciplined enough, it feels very "predatory" to me. I fear people cashing and blowing half or all of their paycheck before they ever make it home to pay the rent and put food on the table for their family. :(
Senor Cheech's artistic cinematic portrait of his home turf:
(Do not try this at home. That word does NOT mean what he told his Anglo passenger friend it does. At all. My command of Spanish is poor, and someone pulled that same trick with some other words that I found are even less likely than that one to get answered with a friendly smile.)
Sorry for the partial derail. Back to your sea of riches from your gambling good fortune.
Quote: kewljOne thing I hate about the "Horns" is that like many local type casinos they offer paycheck cashing bonuses where if you cash your paycheck there, you get an extra amount (I think spin of the wheel) in free play. While that is extra bonus EV, for those disciplined enough, it feels very "predatory" to me. I fear people cashing and blowing half or all of their paycheck before they ever make it home to pay the rent and put food on the table for their family. :(
The Longhorn paycheck bonus is the best one I know of in the city with a value of over $25 (if there are any better still out there, someone please correct me). For someone underemployed working only a couple shifts per week, that can easily add $1 or more to their hourly wage. For others who can't find full time work and are stuck working multiple jobs, being able to take advantage of the bonus more often can add $100 to $200 to their monthly income. It was that very promotion that kept me in the workforce a lot of weeks for a full year or so. Pick up one eight hour shift and my wage would jump from $11.25 to over $14 (of course, when I felt like taking more than that my wage would then start to drop).
When I used to go there I remember that the blackjack tournaments would pay back 100% in cash and give some dining credits, so +EV every day. Already mentioned, blackjack game is $3, which makes 20-1 spread possible with very good rules.
More often than not there will be a video poker progressive past the point of breaking even when counting cash back on the card. That is sometimes at the 25-cent machine, but mostly at $1 level, so it can also be great for people trying to earn money past the low-roller level.
When you eat there you get a little card that counts as an ace for your fisrt card in Blackjack. Only good up to $5. There BJ is $2-$100.
The food is actually good and an exceptional value. The only things I eat there are the Cajun Prime Rib @ 11.99, comes with vegetables, choice of potato, dinner roll, and a salad. Regular prime rib with same is only 9.99. They have the best breakfast items 24 hours a day. Country scrambled eggs(country means real in Vegas- you have to ask at most places for country or your getting fake eggs), 4 slices bacon, camp spuds(potatoes sliced with onion and pepper prepared in a skillet), and choice of toast or english muffin 6.99.
They also have some open faced turkey or roast beef sandwiches for 4.99 with card that are fairly good. The place is always packed. Atmosphere is slightly dumpy with a heavy scent of smoke. Not for the faint of heart. The people are friendly and the food preparation is clean. They offer a terrific value in my opinion.
There are much better paycheck cashing options. One of the best in Vegas is Club Fortune 5% in Freeplay up to $100. $2000 paycheck equal $100 freeplay. Across the street at Eastside Cannery it used to be $75 for a paycheck 1500-3000 as well as for personal checks. Someone and his acquaintenances buried them with that promotion and its frequency of allowable use has substantially diminished. As of last week the $75 for 1500-3000 has been reduced to $50. personal checks are only allowed at one per two week period. There are some others that are better, which shall remain nameless for now. Most all casinos have paycheck cashing options.
Frequenting the Bighorn is not recommended unless armed. Longhorn is safe. Both have retired cops as security with 3 options to shoot troublemakers with.
Quote: DRichThe Longhorn is a casino on Boulder Highway a few block from Sams Town
I have only eaten breakfast there and I highly recommend it if you are not a snob on atmosphere. The food is good, big, and reasonably priced. I would relate it to eating at a truck stop.
I got food poisoning twice there. No kidding. Was years ago though.
(and you ask why did I go back twice -- I didn't make the connection the first time. The second time there was no ruling it out).
Quote: rxwineI got food poisoning twice there. No kidding. Was years ago though.
(and you ask why did I go back twice -- I didn't make the connection the first time. The second time there was no ruling it out).
I highly doubt that. You sure it was the Longhorn? I eat there at least twice a month without incident and I am actually particular when it comes to prep and handling of the food. I always catch a glimpse of the establishments prep areas. The place is a dump no doubt. However, some of the best diners are as well.
My wife would get sick in a minute if there was anything questionable regarding the food and the place would be dead to us, like many are in and around Vegas. She has never gotten anything from the Longhorn. Believe me she's like a canary in a mine with stuff like that.
Quote: MaxPenI highly doubt that. You sure it was the Longhorn? I eat there at least twice a month without incident and I am actually particular when it comes to prep and handling of the food. I always catch a glimpse of the establishments prep areas. The place is a dump no doubt. However, some of the best diners are as well.
My wife would get sick in a minute if there was anything questionable regarding the food and the place would be dead to us, like many are in and around Vegas. She has never gotten anything from the Longhorn. Believe me she's like a canary in a mine with stuff like that.
Why would you doubt it? I ate there quite a few times after midnight over 10 years without getting sick. One of those cheap breakfast stops I would make on the way home sometimes usually from other casinos.
Pretty sure it was spoiled gravy they put on toast for the egg breakfast which I decided to have each time. It was only a week apart.
I just mentioned it, and it was years ago. I did stop going there for breakfast after that though. You might say I lost my appetite for the gravy, eggs toast.
Quote: MaxPenProbably wrong choice of words. Sorry. In my opinion chances of something like that hapening, at least now, are very slim and much more likely less than average. That was the point I was trying to make. Please accept my apologies.
No problem, I like a lot of the older casinos, the ones that still exist. I used to hit the Nevada Palace in that area as an alternative.
Was sorry to see it go actually.
It had 99cent breakfast, that went to 1.99 breakfast later on, before they tore it down finally,
I always have a first choice in the back of my mind among a list of preferred low-rent places for my cheapo dive joint needs, but my choice for that seems to move from year to year. Currently I think of Jerry's Nugget first if I'm anywhere kind of near it at all, but if someone asked me to explain why, I'm not sure I have an answer, and I'd hesitate to tout it to someone for fear they'd believe me only to run away from it screaming about what a horrible place I sent them to.
