Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

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CHAPTER 8 . ABOUT CASINO GAMBLING
Imperial Palace The 75,000-square-foot casino here reflects the hotel’s
pagoda-roofed Asian exterior with a dragon-motif ceiling and giant wind-chime
chandeliers. There is a Breathalyzer for voluntary alcohol-limit checks on your
way to the parking lot (useful, since there are nine bars on the casino premises).
The Imperial Palace boasts a 230-seat race and sports book, attractively decorated
with oil murals of sporting events; the room is tiered like a grandstand, and every
seat has its own color monitor. One giant slot machine is red, white, and blue;
try singing the National Anthem to it, and see if you win more money. One
kitsch feature of note is the casino’s Legends Pit, where, on weekends after 6pm,
celebrity impersonators aping everyone from Elvis to Madonna deal blackjack.
This is also one of the few places on this part of the Strip where you might be
able to find $5 table minimums. 3535 Las Vegas Blvd. S. & 702/731-3311.
The Mirage Gamble in a Polynesian village in one of the prettiest casinos in
town. It has a meandering layout, and the low ceiling makes for a medium claustrophobia
level, but neither of these aspects is overwhelming. This remains one
of our favorite places to gamble. Facilities include a plush European-style salon
privé for high rollers at baccarat, blackjack, and roulette; an elegant dining room
serves catered meals to gamblers there. Slot and table players can join the MGM
MIRAGE Players Club, also valid at sister hotels such as Treasure Island and
MGM Grand, and work toward bonus points for cash rebates, special room
rates, complimentary meals and/or show tickets, and other benefits. The elaborate
race and sports book offers theater stereo sound and a movie-theater-size
screen. It’s one of the most pleasant and popular casinos in town, so it’s crowded
more often than not. 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. S. & 702/791-7111.
Palms Resort & Casino Here’s where this Desperately-Seeking-the-Hip hotel
has a bit of an identity crisis, because it also wants to be a place where locals feel
comfortable gambling. You know, like Palace and Texas Station. Huh? That’s
right, the Palm wants to mirror those hotels off the Strip that offer loose slots and
other incentives to make the locals feel at home. This rarely makes for a chic playing
area (because locals don’t want to have to get glammed up to go out and play
some slots). On the other hand, the area is, especially on weekend nights, ringed
with the beautiful and slender and aloof, desperate to get into Ghost Bar and
Rain. If they aren’t inside, they are surly about it. Let’s hope everyone just keeps
getting along. The gaming area covers most of the ground floor (it recently had
part of its bulk diminished, in response to complaints that it was too crowded
with tables and machines), and is replete with Miami-tropical-inspired details.
4321 W. Flamingo Rd. & 702/942-7777.
Paris Las Vegas Casino Surrounded by a rather Disneyesque one-third-scale
replica of the streets of Paris, this 83,000-square-foot casino is a very pleasant place
to gamble, in that Vegas-gimmick kind of way. It’s one of those kitschy places that
“real” gamblers are appalled by. To heck with them, we say. A tall ceiling gives the
illusion that you are trying to bust the bank while strolling outside, and results in
an airy effect. The place doesn’t feel all that large, thanks to a meandering layout.
There are over 2,000 slot machines and over 100 table games. A state-of-the-art
race and sports book features live satellite feeds of sporting events from around the
world. The Park Place Connection is the Paris’s players’ club, under the umbrella
of Park Place Entertainment—owners of Paris, Bally’s, Caesars, The Flamingo, and
the Las Vegas Hilton—so you can rack up points at one casino and redeem them
at any in the family. 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. S. & 702/946-7000.