ONLINE GAMBLING AND CASINO GUIDE

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 into the face of anyone who dare get within line of sight.

I have to admit, on some nights, this stereotype was not too far off the mark, but even so, my affection for the property never wavered.

Even though it has fallen strongly out of favor among douchebags and bedheads in recent years, in my opinion, the Tropicana is in the top 5 most underrated properties in Las Vegas.

I have a few reasons for this sentiment.

First of all, the location is prime.  Geographically, you just can’t do much better than the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.  I’ve always considered staying at the Trop to be a 2-For-1 proposition.  Trop rooms are as close to the MGM Poker room as are rooms in the MGM itself, and for all intents and purposes, Tropicana rooms are MGM Grand rooms … albiet cheaper.  It’s not just proximity to the MGM, though.  The Trop location is so good, that staying here is like staying in 6 different properties.  As a matter of fact, with 14,762 rooms, the intersection of Trop/LVB has more hotel rooms of any intersection in the entire world, and the intersection is also one of the busiest in the nation from a traffic perspective.  All of the major South Strip properties are within 5-10 minute walks via skyways and trams, and thus one can have a fulfilling week-long vacation staying at the Trop without spending a single moment of it sitting in Las Vegas Boulevard traffic.

Second, the view from Tropicana tower rooms are superior to those of more expensive properties such as The Bellagio, and even Encore.  You can even enjoy the scenery on the ride to your floor in the glass elevators.  Back in 1999-2000, I used to really enjoy staying in top floor tower rooms.  Even when I didn’t get a strip view, the ability to watch all of the activity of McCarran airport as if I were staying in the control tower was a unique experience.

Third, the Trop pool has remained one of my favorites for over a decade.  While the Mandalay Bay pool is still the gold standard for Vegas swimming holes, and the Flamingo takes the mid-Strip prize, the Tropicana’s offering is still well above average, and has long flown under the radar.  Waterfalls, swim-up Blackjack, hillside seating … the fact that it is often left out of discussions of “best pools” has been a bit surprising to me.  As I type this, the Tropicana pool is undergoing renovations, and is expected to open before the official beginning of summer.  I assume that when it opens, it will be even better than in years past.

Lastly, it’s historic.  Built in 1957, this property has been standing for over 50 years, and is one of the last remaining properties of the “original” Las Vegas Strip.  It should get a certain level of respect for its sheer longevity and contribution to the Vegas story.

Unfortunately, not all is swell in Tropicanaland at this particular moment.

The Island Buffet is now closed, the poker room is long gone, the kiosks that lined the walkway between the casino and the hotel rooms are no longer there, the Bird Man show has moved on, as is the signature show of the property … Folies Bergère.  I used to enjoy the buffet, and even though the poker room was small, at least they had one.  The loss of Folies is fairly major because it was a large part of the identity and character of the property, and the loss of the buffet may be a problem given the demographic of the hotel.  Older, middle-class folks like their buffets, but the Trop is trying to add more “upscale” restaurants instead.  We’ll have to see how well that works out.

Back on the positive side, Wayne Newton is back.  I saw Newton years ago, and despite his almost universal despise amongst hipsters, I thought his show was pretty enjoyable.  It’s nostalgic, like the Trop itself.  The venue seems like a good fit.

While the rooms also used to be on the nostalgic side, the Trop guest rooms are also currently undergoing major renovations.  There have been many complaints in years past about the “old, smoky, deteriorating” rooms at the Trop, but those concerns are being addressed.

Overall, I had a decent time playing in the Tropicana this weekend.  Well, except for the Sex and the City slots, which were located adjacent to the Blackjack tables.  Blackjack was offered consistently at the $10 limit, and sometimes one or two $5 tables run as well.  The only 6:5 game I spotted during my playing time was a single deck game.

Six five on single deck is now fairly standard at low limits, even in some Downtown casinos, but six five single deck is still considerably worse than shoe 3:2.  A standard 6-deck, hit soft-17 BJ game has a house advantage of .63%, while the Crapjack single-deck version of the game has an edge of 1.45%.  This is a more than twofold give up to the house.  Obviously, these stats do not factor in the ability of a person to successfully count cards in the single deck game and regain the edge, but I think it is safe to say that no successful card counter in Las Vegas plays Crapjack.  The genius behind casinos offering this game is that it preys primarily on wannabe card-counters.

I satisfied myself with ten bucks per hand, and when all of my sessions had been completed, I think I proved statistical probability.  I came away down between 5-10%, but counting dealer and waitress tips, my donation to the gaming gods were probably closer to one or two percent.  That’s what I get for waking up in Vegas, as opposed to say, East Rutheford, New Jersey.

In any event, if you’ve been avoiding the Tropicana because of its pariah status among 3L1tE tourists, I would opine that you might want to reconsider.  This property has always been a sleeper.  While it’s true that the casino floor is a bit old-school, and you aren’t likely to spot a large number of nubile Hard Rockettes, the almost completely lack of douchemonkeys and bedheads can actually be a welcome respite.  If you just have to get your douche on, the MGM is a mere three minute walk away.  Flip your collar up, turn your baseball cap sideways, speak like the black guy you knew in high school, and you can be down wit da homeiz in no time.

Afterwards, cross the bridge back to your inexpensive room, enjoy the view, do some low/mid-roller gambling, and buy a couple of tickets to see Wayne sing “Danke Schoen”.  It’s an almost perfect mix of the old Vegas and new Vegas.

Once the room remodels are complete, it would be nice to see more people give the Tropicana a real shot.

Who knows, it just might grow on them.

With a new pool, new restaurants, new rooms, and most importantly … Sex and the City slot machines … hopefully the Trop will emerge a bigger player than it was in the decade past.

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