Posted by gomer on November 25, 1996 at 12:47:43:
I spent last week in Las Vegas at COMDEX, and was able to visit a number of casinos during the week. I spent the majority of my time at Binion’s Horseshoe, which, while disliked by most of the denizens of this site, is still a low-roller’s paradise, given (a) the number of $2.00-$3.00 single-deck games offered there, and (b) the ease with which one can comp meals in the coffee shop. Most Binion’s pit bosses are fairly contemptuous of silver players, and many dealers there—especially in the infamous "bar pit"—are the height of unfriendliness; moreover, the dark, smoky atmosphere can be pretty oppressive. However, given my puny bankroll, I’ll take single-deck silver action over double- deck red action anytime.
We also tried out Boomtown, the Fiesta, Arizona Charlie’s, and Joe’s Longhorn Casino. Boomtown has a great $3.00 single-deck game with DOA and DAS. I thought the buffet was above-average, also, and the snack bar serves a great (huge) $1.00 strawberry shortcake. We went to the Fiesta primarily because it is owned by the Maloof family of Albuquerque, and because there is a Garduno’s restaurant there. The Fiesta casino has a $3.00 double-deck game and a $5.00 single-deck game, both with fairly standard downtown rules, but the penetration wasn’t much more than 50%. However, the Mexican food at Garduno’s was just as good as the Garduno’s in Albuquerque—easily the best I’ve had in Vegas.
Arizona Charlie’s is an extremely friendly place; it’s easy to see why locals hang out there. We played in a $2.00 double-deck game there and had a pretty good time. The Longhorn, in North Las Vegas, is a different sort of place; small and somewhat dingy, it has only four blackjack tables, including a $1.00 six-deck game, our only reason for going there. (No single-deck or double-deck games are offered). The rules are pretty liberal and include a strange surrender rule: the Longhorn unlike other casinos which don’t check for blackjacks until the players have played, doesn’t use surrender markers, instead "paying off" the surrender immediately except when the dealer shows an ace. Therefore, in essence the Longhorn offers early surrender when the dealer shows a 10-value card, but only late surrender when the dealer shows an ace. Out of curiosity, I asked the pit boss about the disparity, and she seemed to have no concept of the difference between early and late surrender. The dealer also turned over the first card of each shoe and then burned a number of cards equal to the value of that card, so as many as ten cards were burned. Finally, I wasn’t counting, but it did seem like very few face cards and tens were coming out, shoe after shoe. I’m not one to accuse anyone of cheating—after all, lots of weird hands happen with six decks--but I started feeling pretty uncomfortable after a while.
I also jumped around downtown, playing a little at the Lady Luck (where we were staying), Fitzgerald’s, the Las Vegas Club, and the new Main Street Station. I’ve always liked the Lady Luck’s atmosphere--neon and day-glo glitz notwithstanding--and the blackjack dealers there are usually pretty friendly. The casino caters more to the geriatric slot-puller set, but I’ve always had pretty good luck at the $5.00 single-deck game there, which has Binion’s-like rules (except that aces cannot be re-split). Fitzgerald’s isn’t too bad, except that I will never want to play double-deck when there are so many low-minimum single-deck games just down the street. Much ill has been spoken at this site about the Las Vegas Club, and I can attest to its all being true. Their ads imply that the number of decks isn’t nearly as important as the rules offered, but it would take far more-liberal rules than theirs to make a six-deck game with 55% penetration worthwhile. Main Street Station has a beautiful, elegant casino, although I understand it isn’t much different than the old Rosie O’Grady’s that used to be there. A security guard had told us before the place opened on Friday that the casino would offer match-play coupons and a $1.00 single-deck game with DOA, DAS, and LSR. However, when we went there at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, what we found was a $3.00 double-deck game and a $5.00 single-deck game with no DAS, LSR, or match play. The place is worth a look, however.
I didn’t do any playing at the Golden Nugget while I was there, but it deserves mention inasmuch as it is still the nicest casino downtown. I sure wish they would bring back single-deck, however. Their old $1.00 single-deck games were a piker’s wet dream.
I also have to mention the fact that we went to see the early show of
"Jubilee" at Bally’s on Tuesday night. We timed our arrival at
the ticket booth perfectly, as the casino handed back its high-roller seats
just as we got there. We ended up in a booth right in the middle of King’s
Row. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, "Jubilee" is a spectacular
show with a lot of production value, although I wasn’t quite prepared for
all the skin. "Boobilee" would be a more-descriptive name.