Best casinos downtown
2) Main Street CaliFremont. (I count them as one.)
3) El Cortez
4) Golden Gate
---------------------
Those four above are really quite good. A tier below that I would put:
5) Four Queens
6) Binion's
7) Fitzgerald's
--------------------
The Plaza and Vegas Club don't even merit consideration. The Western is more of a novelty than anything else.
Edit: I've never actually played in the Golden Nugget. I agree that it is going for the Strip-in-downtown model. So skip it unless you want to feel like you are on the strip. Their atmosphere is the best, but I would assume you are not looking for the Strip if you are downtown. In that case, cross it off your list. Good pool, though, and a nice little oasis of high-end if you need it after all the sawdust joints.
The Golden Gate is very underrated, I think. You should check it out. I had a very good experience there.
Quote: IAchance5Where is the best place to gamble downtown? I'm asking about atmosphere, because I'm sure all those casinos have roughly the same minimums and hold % for slots, right?
Uh, no, actually, the hold percentages and table minimums vary quite a bit. El Cortez has the lowest slot hold percentage. They also have the lowest table limits. The Boyd casinos (MSS, Cal, Fremont) are somewhere in the middle. Fitzgerald's has low table mins but I don't know about slot hold. Four Queens has the most generous slot club, and table mins are medium-high for downtown. Don't bother with Binion's unless you want to play poker with the local rocks. Plaza and Vegas Club are dead and dying, respectively. And the Nugget has pretensions of being like a fancy-ass Strip megatoilet, with ridiculously high table minimums for downtown, and what has seemed to me to be the tightest slots downtown (their video poker is definitely the worst, which usually means lousy slot returns as well.) Also, forget the Golden Gate or any of the little crud joints like Sassy Sally's.
As far as atmosphere goes, I enjoy MSS (the beer is great, it's relatively quiet, and there's no loud music), Four Queens (kinda noisy, but I like the good variety of decent games), and El Cortez (really!). I absolutely hate Fitzgerald's (LOUD and AWFUL music, and a LOT of smoke), and I dislike Binion's (a shadow of its former self), Vegas Club (clueless employees--I mean, REALLY clueless), and Golden Nugget (pretensions to glory, and overpriced everything).
The current American Casino Guide has about $100 worth of coupons if you want to do a downtown casino crawl.
Quote: mkl654321Uh, no, actually, the hold percentages and table minimums vary quite a bit. El Cortez has the lowest slot hold percentage. They also have the lowest table limits. The Boyd casinos (MSS, Cal, Fremont) are somewhere in the middle. Fitzgerald's has low table mins but I don't know about slot hold. Four Queens has the most generous slot club, and table mins are medium-high for downtown. Don't bother with Binion's unless you want to play poker with the local rocks. Plaza and Vegas Club are dead and dying, respectively. And the Nugget has pretensions of being like a fancy-ass Strip megatoilet, with ridiculously high table minimums for downtown, and what has seemed to me to be the tightest slots downtown (their video poker is definitely the worst, which usually means lousy slot returns as well.) Also, forget the Golden Gate or any of the little crud joints like Sassy Sally's.
As far as atmosphere goes, I enjoy MSS (the beer is great, it's relatively quiet, and there's no loud music), Four Queens (kinda noisy, but I like the good variety of decent games), and El Cortez (really!). I absolutely hate Fitzgerald's (LOUD and AWFUL music, and a LOT of smoke), and I dislike Binion's (a shadow of its former self), Vegas Club (clueless employees--I mean, REALLY clueless), and Golden Nugget (pretensions to glory, and overpriced everything).
The current American Casino Guide has about $100 worth of coupons if you want to do a downtown casino crawl.
Yea, I have already picked up an ACG, so I have all those coupons.....I figured that I would take a cab from Bally's to the El Cortez first to gamble, and then walk to Fremont Street for more excitement....
Quote: IAchance5Yea, I have already picked up an ACG, so I have all those coupons.....I figured that I would take a cab from Bally's to the El Cortez first to gamble, and then walk to Fremont Street for more excitement....
The ACE bus rapid transit is almost as fast as a cab and much cheaper.
Main Street Station and El Cortez are the best for gambling. If you are there in the afternoon try the Chart House bar in Golden Nugget for a drink and good prices on fish snack. It is very $$$ in the evening.
Quote: pacomartinThe ACE bus rapid transit is almost as fast as a cab and much cheaper.
Provided traffic on the Strip is light.
BTW How safe is it to walk from the Fremont Street Experience to the Cortez in the day time?
Quote: NareedBTW How safe is it to walk from the Fremont Street Experience to the Cortez in the day time?
Quite safe day or night. The El Cortez always has a security guard outside and the block between now has several bars most w doormen out front.
Quote: Wavy70Quite safe day or night. The El Cortez always has a security guard outside and the block between now has several bars most w doormen out front.
Is it just one block away? It can't be that bad huh....?
Otherwise, I'd agree with Ted's rankings, although it really depends on what kind of atmosphere you're looking for. For a "classic Vegas" feel, Main Street and El Cortez are by far the best options. For a "party" atmosphere, I actually kind of enjoyed Binion's--true, their blackjack mostly sucks, but they're also the only downtown casino that has craps AND roulette dealt by sexy party pit dealers, and they can be sort of fun to play with.
Can't forget the Gold Spike, either! Only four little BJ tables, but they're also dealt by party pit dealers, and they're actually 3:2 tables, unlike most other places. The bartenders are lots of fun too. It's another good low-rolling party place, but be warned that the walk from Fremont St. doesn't feel quite as safe as the walk to the El Cortez.
I agree with mkl about Fitzgerald's--crowded, dirty, and noisy. Don't recommend it. Plus I had terrible luck playing Spanish 21 there, which I know shouldn't matter, but it still colors my perception. :-)
Quote: OneAngryDwarfI spent some time at Vegas Club on my last trip, and honestly it isn't THAT bad...at least during the day.
I went in last trip to get a player card. I didn't stay to look around, or even look up a single VP pay table.
Quote:I agree with mkl about Fitzgerald's--crowded, dirty, and noisy. Don't recommend it. Plus I had terrible luck playing Spanish 21 there, which I know shouldn't matter, but it still colors my perception. :-)
I had my best session to date there. I bought in 3CP for $50 and got up with $150 not quite an hour later. That was early in the trip, and yet I didn't play there again. go figure.
Quote: IAchance5Is it just one block away? It can't be that bad huh....?
A block away from where he pedestrian mall ends. By Hennessy's (Huge Pint Glass)
2 blocks from the end of the canopy.
Quote: NareedBTW How safe is it to walk from the Fremont Street Experience to the Cortez in the day time?
The street is grungy, but it is not really dangerous day or night. The El Cortez built a lighted walkway if you want to avoid walking down the street.
Quote: StingMeI love the Golden Gate. It's $5/min 10x odds. The dealers are great.
Wow. Low minimums, great odds ... and I think thats the place where the water pressure is guaranteed to take off "all the dirt and half the skin".
Quote: FleaStiffWow. Low minimums, great odds ... and I think thats the place where the water pressure is guaranteed to take off "all the dirt and half the skin".
I should note that on Monday and Tuesday night, the Golden Gate was very generous with their discretionary comps. My wife and I played there for about 6 hours between the two nights. Basically played $5 pass with 2x-4x odds, and a few place and come bets. In total, we received 10 free shrimp cocktails, $100 in vouchers for Dupar's Diner (excellent pie), and were offered two free nights in the hotel when we weren't sure if we would be able to fly home due to the blizzard. We tipped the dealers and they took care of us. I would definitely recommend the Golden Gate for craps downtown.
We played quite a bit at El Cortez as well. Their craps table was cold both days, and didn't have any atmosphere. The Golden Gate game was always fun, even when we weren't winning.
Quote: pacomartinThe street is grungy, but it is not really dangerous day or night. The El Cortez built a lighted walkway if you want to avoid walking down the street.
Both times I thought to walk there the street was deserted. I'm very wary of empty streets, as I once was robbed in one of them. But I expect I'll chance it. I figure it's one casino I ought to see.
Quote: NareedThe street is grungy, but it is not really dangerous day or night. The El Cortez built a lighted walkway if you want to avoid walking down the street.
I've never felt like it was deserted enough to be actually dangerous (but maybe I've just been lucky). It does seem like that block has been building up, and has more open bars, and the new art gallery/coffee shop place.
Is it Fitzgerald's with the McDonald's? With the sign on the Coke fountain telling people not to fill up the slot buckets with soda?
THAT'S atmosphere.
Quote: teddysThe Plaza and Vegas Club don't even merit consideration. .
The Vegas Club has an awesome shop that sells beef jerky, nuts, dried fruits, etc. Especially good are these sliced toasted bagel things that they sell in a tall plastic cylinder. I've never seen them anywhere else. Also, they have some exotic jerky's too (try the "Soft Ika", which is sweet dried squid, shredded and pounded soft).
Quote: StingMeThe Golden Gate game was always fun, even when we weren't winning.
I've heard a lot of good things about the GG. The rooms are reported to be relatively small, and the ones that front on Fremont to be pretty loud, but they were remodeled within the past couple of years as you can see here. And I've also heard others say their comp experiences were similar, with it being pretty easy to earn rooms and food. It doesn't quite fit what I'm looking for, but if you like the games they have it might be worth considering for others.
