Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

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CHAPTER 8 . ABOUT CASINO GAMBLING
course, we’ve all heard the legend that Vegas casinos pump in fresh oxygen to keep
the players from getting tired and wanting to pack it in. The veracity of this is hard
to confirm, but we can only hope it’s true, especially when we think of that time we
looked up after a long stretch of gambling and discovered it was Thursday.
Don’t be a snob, and don’t be overly dazzled by the fancy casinos. Sometimes
you can have a better time at one of the older places Downtown, where stakes
are lower, pretensions are nonexistent, and the clientele is often friendlier.
Frankly, real gamblers—and by that we don’t necessarily mean high rollers, but
those who play to win regardless of the amount of said win—head straight for
Downtown (and most often, straight for Binion’s) for these precise reasons, caring
not a whit about glitz and glamour. Even if you don’t take your gambling as
seriously as that, you may well want to follow their example. After all, it’s getting
harder and harder to find cheap tables (where you can play a hand of blackjack,
for example, for less than $10) on the Strip—so take your hard-earned
money to where you can lose it more slowly!
We would also call your attention to less glamorous, less readily accessible
casinos, such as local favorites Sunset Station, Texas Station, Cannery, Fiesta
Rancho & Henderson and Santa Fe, where payoffs are often higher than on the
Strip, and the limits are lower.
You can expect to find in every casino the usual and expected assortment of
games—slot machines, of course, video poker, blackjack, table poker (though
less and less these days), a race and sports book, a keno lounge, a poker room,
baccarat, minibaccarat, Caribbean stud, Let It Ride, craps, roulette, pai gow
poker, and more, more, more. If you want a particular game, and it’s not one of
the most obvious, you might want to call before heading over to a particular
casino, just to make sure.
What follows is a description of most of the major casinos in Vegas, including
their level of claustrophobia, whether they have a giant slot machine (it’s a
sucker bet, but we love them), and a completely arbitrary assessment based on
whether we won there.
SOUTH STRIP
Excalibur As you might expect, the Excalibur casino is replete with suits of
armor, stained-glass panels, knights, dragons, and velvet and satin heraldic banners,
with gaming action taking place beneath vast iron-and-gold chandeliers fit
for a medieval castle fortress. This all makes it fine for kitsch-seekers, but anyone
who hates crowds or is sensitive to noise will hate it. The overall effect is less
like a castle and more like a dungeon. One of us won a lot of money here and
refused to share it with the other, so our final judgment about the casino is, well,
mixed. Excalibur is now part of Mandalay Resorts’ “One Club” slot-reward program,
which is also valid at Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Circus Circus, and others.
3850 Las Vegas Blvd. S. & 702/597-7777.
Luxor Las Vegas More accessible than ever thanks to the air-conditioned people-mover
from Excalibur and the monorail from Mandalay Bay, Luxor has been
Impressions
Tip Number 3: Win a bunch of money. I can’t recommend this too highly.
If it hasn’t occurred to you, win $1,200 and see for yourself. It’s very
energizing and really adds to your Vegas fun.
—Merrill Markoe, Viva Las Wine Goddesses!