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
A Night at Gilley’s
June 23, 2010
Last night, I decided to make my second trip to Gilley's since it opened two months ago at Treasure Island. I had to meet someone at the Mirage later in the night, and I figured the country bar would be a good place to kill some time since I was running about an hour ahead of schedule. I had my ride drop me off in front of the Mirage, and I then headed north and tried to enter Gilley's from the outside. I soon realized the error of my ways. To call the pedestrian situation in front of TI a "logistical nightmare" would be kind. Calling it a clusterf**k would denigrate the beautiful act of making love to clusters. Frankly, I don't know what to call the situation other than a "complete and unadulterated mess". If you try to reach Gilley's by walking north from the most populated portion ... Read the full blog post...
Sunday at the Trop
June 21, 2010
When I learned that the Tropicana was getting rid of its Island Buffet, I was disappointed. I used to enjoy the buffet, and I used to schedule visits around the Bird Man shows. Since the Trop has been without an all-you-can eat venue for awhile, I was somewhat heartened to learn last week that their new Italian restaurant, Bacio, was instituting a new weekend "brunch" buffet. Of course, I had to try it, and yesterday I did exactly that. The new Bacio buffet is somewhat interesting from a logistical perspective. You are seated inside, but in order to get your food, you have to go back out of the front entrance to the exterior of the restaurant . Of course, this is the reverse of how most buffets operate. It reminded me a little bit of wearing one's clothes backward, like Kriss-Kross circa 1993. Don't even act like ... Read the full blog post...
Freaky Friday
May 23, 2010
Located in an unimpressive building on Industrial Road, only a block from the Trump Tower, sits a somewhat unlikely Las Vegas attraction. The Erotic Heritage Museum has been around for awhile, but for some reason, I've always just assumed that the place was a trap. I envisioned going inside, staring at a couple of posters on a wall, and then being herded into a strip club where I would be mercilessly hustled for lapdances until I was able to summon my inner ninja to stun my attackers and slip out the back door. It is entirely possible that I have lived in this town for too long, because I no longer trust anyone or anything here, and my natural assumption is that everything is a complete scam. More often than not, I'm correct ("Hey, how long are you in town for? Do you want to see a show?"), but after hearing some ... Read the full blog post...
We Are Beautiful, No Matter What The Trop Says
May 19, 2010
Even though I had transit difficulties on Monday, I was still able to make it to the Tropicana without too much trouble, and while I was there I decided to get some updated shots of their "new" pool. Of course, Monday just happened to be the most overcast, windy day we had experienced in several weeks, but such is the dark cloud that ostensibly hovers over my head. It's not that Jesus doesn't love me, he's just not big on public displays of affection when it comes to yours truly. In any event, the "new and improved" Tropicana Pool has been open for much of this month, but as you can clearly see from the photographs, it is not yet finished. At this point, the pool does not look all that different from the "old" pool. Since I have always been a huge fan of the Tropicana swimming hole, this is certainly ... Read the full blog post...
Gnarly and the Chocolate Factory
May 7, 2010
For the first time ever, yesterday, I embarked on a trip to the famous Ethel M Chocolate Factory. For those of you who are unaware, Ethel M is kind of a big deal for those who like sweets. It is a gourmet candy factory which just happens to be located about 10 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, and is a mecca for chocolate lovers from all over the country. Given its popularity, it's somewhat odd that I had never been to Ethel's before. The reason for this is that I am not a huge chocolate lover. I like it just fine, but I'm generally not willing to brave travelling to Henderson to consume it. Having kids, however, means that what you want is often completely and utterly irrelevant. You are going to do and pay for whatever you are told to do and pay for. It's a lot like being an ... Read the full blog post...
The Other Nugget
April 30, 2010
I had a few things to take care of near Cashman Field earlier this week, and while there, I saw the large Jerry's Nugget oil well sign in the distance. Jerry's Nugget is officially in the city limits of North Las Vegas, but its location of only 1.5 miles north of Fremont Street is enough to consider it a pseudo-Downtown property. Even though this is the case, I've only visited Jerry's a handful of times in the last decade. Today, I decided to add another visit to that meager total. As I drove through the dusty nothingness that is the Las Vegas/North Las Vegas border and approached the entrance to Jerry's, my passenger yelled "There it is!". Assuming he had lost his damn mind getting this excited about a locals casino, I turned toward him to level a well-placed insult when I saw him pointing out the window at the Palomino Club. "That's the only ... Read the full blog post...
Kicking It Old School
April 19, 2010
The past several days have been spent traveling back and forth to the south strip, and yesterday, I decided to change intersection corners. After working on my base tan at the Luxor (don't laugh, it's necessary to prevent painful burning in May), I walked over to the Tropicana. About 15 people from my site are coming into Vegas this weekend, and they are contemplating making the Tropicana one of their stops. As such, I decided to see how things were coming along. After looking around the Trop for a bit, the answer to my question was: very quickly. The crotch port is still under construction, as is the area at the end of the Tropicana Ave pedestrian bridge, but the gaming pit is looking pretty nice. It's certainly a huge change from just a couple of weeks ago when I last visited. The pit has higher ceilings, it's quite ... Read the full blog post...
Forgotten, But Not Gone
March 23, 2010
This weekend, I spent a great deal of time inside of an old favorite. Your mother. I also visited the Tropicana several times. For whatever reason, the years 2000-2010 saw the Tropicana endure a particularly hard rap. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the property was the redheaded stepchild of the South Strip. It was the property of last resort when everything else was booked, and admitting you stayed in the joint was the Vegas equivalent of declaring that you had a small wiener. If people didn't snicker in your face, they did so behind your back. Hardly an online "next up for the wrecking ball" poll was posted without the Trop at least receiving honorable mention, and the stereotypical clientele of the resort was that of wig-wearing women sitting in front of slot machines while puffing on cigarettes, pausing only long enough to hock a loogie from their tar-encrusted lungs ... Read the full blog post...
A Tale of Two Pizzas
February 25, 2010
I have a confession to make. I've been a lousy neighbor. At least I have been in some respects. In 2009, I ate at the Wynn Buffet upwards of a dozen times, Paris a dozen more, the Bellagio probably ten times, Aria 3 times (not bad for two weeks of existence), the Stratosphere a handful of times, and I won't even attempt to count the times I've dropped $7 in the Sahara Buffet after jumping off the Monorail and walking home. Although I have lived in slightly-off-strip neighborhoods for about five years, when I look back at my expenditures, over half of my disposable income was spent in a major Strip property or in the area surrounding Fremont Street. I've never bought into the "I avoid tourist areas" mentality that many locals have adopted. Instead, I have embraced said areas. Hell, that's one of the reasons I moved here ... to avail myself of ... Read the full blog post...
Naked Lunch
February 15, 2010
"Rexville" and "dining options" are two phrases which are rarely used in the same sentence. While we do have some signature establishments such as Tiffany's, Luv-It, Pepe's, and Albo's ... for the most part, we are limited to fairly common offerings such as Carl's Jr. and Denny's. This is a shame for such an urban, inner-city neighborhood, but such is the net effect of suburban sprawl. It is my hope, and even counter-intuitive expectation, that Las Vegas may actually reverse its pattern of honky flight. As the outer fringes become cheaper and de-facto "low income" areas, perhaps the former-elite will begin questioning their 45 minute commute. It's entirely possible that the central city will see a re-imagining. If you are going to live among the riff-raff anyway, you may as well live closer to work and in a place that isn't completely infested with strip malls and lawn nazis. Dare to dream. Until such ... Read the full blog post...
