Welcome to our Casino Blog section
CasinoGuide.com is proud to present the world's best Casino Blog, bringing you the inside story from Vegas and beyond.
Latest Posts
Sky Jumping
April 16, 2010
At about 11am this morning, I decided to take a break from staring at my monitor. I looked out of my window, focused my eyes on my favorite structure in Las Vegas ... The Stratosphere ... and immediately felt a short burst of panic. Out of nowhere, a falling person crossed my field of vision, and it appeared as though they had leapt off of one of the USA's tallest towers. Of course, this would not have been unprecedented. The Stratosphere has seen its share of suicides, especially during the Celine Dion years, but I have never personally witnessed one. In the two seconds that followed, I wondered what to do. Calling for help washed over my brain, but what would have been the point? "Uh, hi, 911? Yeah, some guy just jumped off the Stratosphere. Yeah, the tower in Downtown Las Vegas. Do you think you can get someone there before he hits the ... Read the full blog post...
Strangers in the Night
April 13, 2010
New York New York. The only casino in Las Vegas named after a Frank Sinatra song. With the exception of Bill's Gamblin' Hall, of course. On Sunday evening, I took a trip to this venerable property to meet with someone and to avail myself of the finest gaming that MGM/Mirage has to offer. We began the gambling festivities mashing Video Poker buttons in Pour 24 (where I made a tiny profit), and then we moved down to the NYNY "party pit". Unfortunately, on this night, there was no party to be found in this pit. There were dealers, and there was a stage behind them, but there were no women dancing nearby. Hell, there really weren't any women anywhere. This party pit was clearly designed by Steve Jobs and the iPad development team. After winning slightly more money in the misnamed pit, catching up, and cashing out, my driver for the evening and I made ... Read the full blog post...
A Blast From The Past
April 9, 2010
Last week, I watched with mild confusion as people dressed in clothing from the 40's, 50's, and 60's made their way up and down the Boulevard. After querying a few of these people, I was informed that it was "Rockabilly Weekend" in Las Vegas, and that ground zero for this impromptu cast from 'Grease' was the Orleans Hotel and Casino. Having not been to the Orleans in several months, the fact that something unusual was happening gave me the perfect excuse to visit the property. Now, maybe it's because I am too young (at 41, I never thought I would say this), or maybe it is because I was never immersed in the culture, but I've never personally been into the Rockabilly thing. Having relatives that grew up in Appalachia, I was exposed to a great deal of REAL hillbilly rock, but I never got into the cartoon-y mainstream incarnation of the genre. The ... Read the full blog post...
Attack of the Ants
April 2, 2010
For the first time in a long time, I did not go to the Bellagio Conservatory on theme change day. I decided to mix it up a bit with regards to our schedule, and yesterday, I finally got around to seeing the new Spring display. After all of these years, the conservatory is more of a tradition than it is a "Wow, look at that!" event. Years of changes to the display have seen the same decorations appear year after year, and a fair amount of recycling and reuse of display elements have become standard. This year, however, it seemed as though the curators pulled out some lessor-used elements. Gone were the live butterfly cages of last Spring, and instead, an army of large, testicle-eating ants took their place. This year's theme is not extravagant, but it's unique, and well done. It is absolutely worth seeing. While perusing the displays, I could not help ... Read the full blog post...
Frosted Lucky Charms, They’re Magically Delicious!
March 18, 2010
For whatever reason, St. Patrick's Day in Las Vegas is closely associated with O'Sheas Casino. This is somewhat amusing when you think about it. The casino is owned by Harrah's (what isn't these days?), and the owners of Harrah's are about as Irish as a burrito. As a matter of fact, O'Sheas operates under the same license as does the Flamingo, and I'm pretty sure Bugsy Siegel wasn't a mick, but in Las Vegas ... image is everything. Since the Monorail may be on borrowed time for yours truly with the pending arrival of the ACE Bus in two weeks, I decided to burn a couple of the 30-ish locals passes that I still have neatly tucked into the inside pocket of my laptop bag. Given the date on the calendar and the number of people walking around in green clothing, my destination was a foregone conclusion. I knew where the ... Read the full blog post...
Selling Your Soul
March 14, 2010
There is one aspect of Rexville that people have been asking me to cover for roughly the past six months, but I have so far resisted doing so. At least in-depth. In addition to weekly motels, wedding chapels, drug sales, streetwalkers-r-us, tattoo parlors, strip clubs, and bail bonds places ... the next most prominent business type in the neighborhood would probably be pawn shops. I don't think I've ever seen a two-square-mile area in the world with more pawn shops than Rexville. Unfortunately, these are probably the businesses in which I am the least interested. Something about pawn shops have always depressed me. They represent the aspect of capitalism that I am the least fond of. Basically, one man's misfortune is another's gain. I generally don't think well of payday loan places, or realtors who take customers on tours of houses where the occupants have just been thrown on the street. I ... Read the full blog post...
Beach Clubbing
February 27, 2010
The largest eyesore south of Echelon Place is finally getting ready to disappear. Well, not so much "disappear" exactly, but it is finally slated to become something other than an eyesore. For the last several months, the construction at the base of the Encore Hotel and Casino has made the vacant lot directly across the street look downright appealing. Every time I have driven by the construction site (including today, the photos on this page were taken hours ago), I always feel surprised that Steve Wynn would allow such a fugly scene to play out in front of one of his signature properties. It seems so ... heterosexual. If I were building an addition to my property, I would have no qualms with digging the place up and parking dump trucks on the lawn, but Steve "I Need More Teeth Whitener" Wynn? Perish the thought. Alas, Steve took it upon himself to crap where he ... Read the full blog post...
On Cloud 9
February 26, 2010
Cloud Nine and I got off to a rough start. As a matter of fact, we got off on such a bad start, that I intentionally steered clear of giving this new ride a try. I'm a pretty unforgiving human being. Lately, however, the balloon has been tempting me. I've been passing the launch zone on a frequent basis, and the fact that I had not seen the view from the top was gnawing at me. Today, I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to go up. I caved. As someone who has intermittently flown airplanes for the last 25 or so years, I think it's safe to say that I am not afraid of heights. I think it's safe to say that I am not a fearful person in general. I was a bike messenger who was hospitalized three times after being hit by vehicles, I've owned and ridden motorcycles, I've ridden ... Read the full blog post...
The Bitch is Back
February 20, 2010
Sometimes I try to ignore news and not comment on them, but I've received more emails about this topic than just about any other story in the past several weeks. Well, with the exception of the axe murderer. For those who are unaware, a man attacked a small child and a couple of other people with an axe last week, and while the crime happened near (not in) Rexville, I really don't know what to say about it. Crime happens here all the time. The story simply got national press because it was a freaking axe. Had it been a gun, a knife, or a baseball bat, you probably wouldn't have heard about it. There are roughly 20,000 murders annually in the USA. This was one of them. They are all a shame. What more can be said? The other big story here in town is that another kind of murder will be ... Read the full blog post...
Away From It All
January 25, 2010
It rained more in Vegas last week alone than in all of 2009, and even though the "storms" here are laughable by East Coast standards (our heaviest day of flooding was caused by .89 inches of rain), the precipitation still left a nice coating of snow on the mountains. Since Sunday is the day of the week with the least amount of traffic in the Vegas Valley, we took advantage of the relatively empty roads and cool temperatures to spend a day in Red Rock and the adjacent canyon. The trip is actually a pretty easy drive from The Arts District. You simply head west on Charleston Boulevard and 25 minutes later ... there you are. Believe it or not, Charleston is the precise road that takes you from Sunrise Manor, to Rexville, to Red Rock Canyon. If you can catch favorable light timings (which I never do), the trip can actually ... Read the full blog post...
