Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

THE CASINOS 223
at a hotel, and food is much more expensive, and to get a ticket to one
of these shows is ridiculous. Now you gamble only $150 and you aren’t
as happy when you come home, because you don’t feel like you’ve been
treated to anything. It all goes into the same pocket—what difference
does it make? It gives the customer the same hours and more fun. They
don’t understand that. It’s not the same industry as when they ran it.
And it shows.”
LOU THE DEALER’S GAMING TIPS
If you are a craps shooter, just look around at the tables where they
have the most chips. Find the guy with the most chips, and do what he
does. Follow him along.
For blackjack, everybody will tell you in all your books to try to play
single and double decks. I don’t agree with that, and I never will. The
average player goes in to enjoy himself and to win a few dollars. So he is
not a professional card counter. Play a shoe. If that shoe is going bad and
you catch a run, you will make a lot more money than with a single deck.
Look at gaming as a form of entertainment. Look at that $100 that
you might have spent on dinner or a club, where we laughed and had
a few drinks and had a good time. Think of it that way.
If you double your money, quit. Not quit gambling, but quit that
table. Go have a sandwich or watch a show. And then come back. The
odds aren’t that tremendously in favor of the casinos. How they make
their money is through greed; gamblers doubling their money then trying
to quadruple it and losing it all, and more.
Try to survive. Don’t try to win the hotel. Just try to win a few dollars.
Then stop and enjoy it.
Tropicana Not quite as good looking as it once was, and, yes, highly tropical,
with gaming tables situated beneath a massive stained-glass archway and Art
Nouveau lighting fixtures. In summer it offers something totally unique: swimup
blackjack tables located in the hotel’s 5-acre tropical garden and pool area.
Slot and table-game players can earn bonus points toward rooms, shows, and
meals by obtaining an Island Winners Club card in the casino. A luxurious highend
slot area has machines that take up to $100 on a single pull. Numerous
tournaments take place here, and free gaming lessons are offered weekdays. 3801
Las Vegas Blvd. S. & 702/739-2222.
MID-STRIP
Aladdin The newest big casino on the Strip and we’ve grown to like it a lot,
but perhaps that’s because the sight of actual Moroccan tile (and other Arabian
Nights touches) makes us happy. It’s just good and tacky, that’s all. It’s big, with
high ceilings that help the claustrophobia index, but it’s also confusingly laid
out, though a recent revamping of the floor has helped alleviate the problem
some. Still, we won with the giant slot machine, and one of our moms won
there, so, hey, no complaints. Also, the big problem, from the hotel’s standpoint,
though not really from ours, is that it was planned so that one was not required