Downtown Las Vegas recomendations?

[tinke]

Post unable to migrate

[Tomcat1569]

tinke, I like to play at Four Queens -- they have full pay 9/6 JOB and DB and good progressive nickel BP. Don't know too much about the other places for video poker. Take a look at the vpfree2 site for best games at the casinos you mentioned.

[TsuDoNihm]

That would depend on just what you are looking for. If you are going to stay elsewhere and visit downtown then you can easily give them all a try as it isn't very far between them, sometimes just across the street. But if you are talking about staying and playing, there is quite a difference.

You didn't mention the Golden Nugget but it is the most luxurious place downtown. It has always been quite busy when I've been there, and the rates are pretty reasonable when compared to the strip. But I'd guess the reason you didn't mention it is because it doesn't tend to have very good VP, (they have to pay for the gold Hands of Faith somehow.) But if you want to stay in a nicer place and play elsewhere it might be a good choice. Most of the games here are newer machines.

The California, Fremont, and Main Street Station are all owned by Boyd gaming, and all have a decent selection of VP. Fremont is right on Fremont Street, The California is one block south and Main Street Station is a little further away with a bridge between the Cal and MSS. All three stay busy, in part because Boyd runs charters from Hawaii so there are a lot of Hawaiian's around. I have not stayed in the Fremont, but MSS and the Cal are both kind of like Holiday Inn rooms; clean and comfortable and of decent size, but not huge. If you play a decent amount you shouldn't have trouble earning food comps, and future free room offers are not too hard to get either. All three of these have a good mix of older and newer machines, but more of the older.

Vegas Club and the Plaza are owned by the same company, and both are located at the western edge of Fremont St. The Plaza was recently remodeled, and all reports I've read say it was a huge improvement. I don't think the Vegas Club rooms have been remodeled in ages, and all reports I've read have said the cigarette burns on the carpet and furniture have only gotten worse since I last stayed there 8 years ago. I have not been to Vegas since the Plaza reopened so I can't comment on their casino, but even though they have done some minor remodeling at Vegas Club the casino still tends to be pretty dead. I can always find something to play but the selection of VP is a little more limited, and most are older machines. I really don't know how they are on comps.

I've stayed at the Fitz once, and played there often. It doesn't seem to be too hard to get comps, and there is a reasonable amount of games I like to play there. They have done some remodeling in the not too distant past, but to me the casino still looks somewhat beat up. A large amount of their VP is on older machines.

The El Cortez is a block further down from the Fremont Street Experience, (FSE), 2 blocks from the next closest casino, (Fitz). I've never had a problem, and I believe the area has been cleaned up considerably over the past few years, but in my experience there does tend to be a greater number of "questionable" characters in that block than you find on the FSE. If you are squeamish you might find it uncomfortable. They have done a considerable amount of remodeling at the ElCo in the past few years and there is a large variety of VP, a good portion of which are older machines.

You didn't mention the 4 Queens, but much like the previous poster I find it to be a good choice. I usually stay there, and find the comps to be quite reasonable. They remodeled the rooms a few years ago so they are clean and comfortable with flat screen TV's. The South tower is further away from the FSE so it isn't quite as noisy, and there are more elevators so the wait is less. The North tower's elevators are closer, right in the middle of the casino towards the front of the building, but there are only 2 so there are frequently lines at peak periods. I only stayed in the north tower once but as I remember it the room was somewhat smaller than most. There is a wide variety of VP, and most or all are relatively newer machines.

Hope that helps.

[tinke]

Thank you for excellent information, I hope others find it useful too!

[Wolfdog1]

No stop at the MMS would be complete without playing the full pay Jacks at the main bar.  Great microbrews on tap.  And scratch off cards for 4ofKinds and above.

[LAD6DER]

MMS ? which casino are you talking about?

[LAD6DER]

We are going to LV in a few weeks staying at Fitzs, anything new or real good along the lines of video poker ?  Thanks Scott

[looken4it]

Go to lasvegasadvisor.com and look under "best video poker".  Casinos, games and paytables are shown.

[BillyJoe]

MMS ? which casino are you talking about?
I think he may have meant MSS - Main Street Station.

[LAD6DER]

Thanks