Downtown Casino Crawl

Has anyone attempted to hit all the casinos within a few hours drink and gamble a little in each?
I don't feel that LVC or Plaza deserves our business so we will skip those. We are a group of 4 who mostly play BJ (3/4 anyway).

I'm looking for any ideas people have or those who have attempted this. We are staying at GN so we figured we would skip our own hotel.

thoughts? suggestions?

 

Re:

This could be easily done, unless someone in your group gets on a hot streak with the cards.

 

I do this every time I am in Vegas, for the past half-dozen trips or so. (See some of my past trip reports, if you would like.) I call it the "downtown loop."

Warning: This is not for a "lightweight" drinker. You *will* get intoxicated after doing this. The beauty is that you are DOWNTOWN, though-- no driving, just pedestrian access everywhere. And the casinos are CLOSE together, i.e. within stumbling distance!

There are currently fourteen (14) casinos downtown, if you count even the small slot parlors as "casinos." (There used to be 16, but Lady Luck and The Western are currently closed.) I'll list them all below.

Some quick tips first:

Drink service is generally faster at table games than slots. Some places have blackjack as low as $5 or even $3.

You mentioned you want to "skip" your hotel. Not sure why this is. Perhaps you can do it first (or last).

I play most everything-- slots, VP, blackjack, craps, poker, sometimes roulette. Again, table games are faster. But for even faster service, try playing VP at the bar. Some places will require max credits (coins), so that's $1.25/hand with quarters. Some places will also require a minimum buy-in of $20 before you get your free drink.

Also, make sure you know your body and can understand how drinking will affect you. Consider drinking enough water before or between places for proper hydration.

I've actually done all fourteen (14) places in as little as 7 hours, but sometimes it can take me 12-14 hours.

You didn't mention what your drink preferences are, which is a big key to the puzzle. But here is what I experienced just last month, in order...

1) The California. Staying there. Left my room, went down to a quarter VP machine on the mezzazine-- an old fashioned "coin dropper." Within 20 minutes the cocktail waitress (CW) took my order. No dark beer-- refused on Guinness and Newcastle. Ended up getting a Heineken.

2) The Las Vegas Club. Slow drink service. The CW refused my dark beer request but took an order for Heineken. She came back with a full tray but had forgot about me. I reminded her. She apologized and I got my Heineken. At least the place has full-pay VP, but there's nothing much else good to say about it.

3) Plaza. Also slow drink service. Played full-pay Bdlx VP. Got a quad, but still cashed out well behind before the CW brought me a shot of Jack. Told myself I wouldn't be back that trip, and didn't go back.

4) Golden Gate. No dark beer. Settled with a Corona. Played $5 blackjack. Quick drink service. Loved the dancing ladies.

5) La Bayou. Crappy slots and no full-pay VP. No table games. But at least the drink service was quick. Plastic cup rum and coke.

6) Mermaids. Quick drink service, even at nickel slots. Won a tub full of nickels. Got a shot of whiskey.

7) Binions. Decent drink service at my Wheel of Fortune slot. Didn't get to spin the wheel, though (boo). Another shot of Jack for me.

8) Golden Nugget. Tried to play VP for a while, cocktail waitress passed by and I attempted to order, but I don't think she saw me. She walked away. Frustrated, I went to the poker room. Drink service there is excellent. A different player ordered a White Russian and I decided to have one. Drank it and by the time the table played out maybe 20 hands, she was back and another order was taken and I had a second.

9) Fremont. Played craps. Lost my buy-in (rollers were not kind to me) quickly. Went to play $3 blackjack (they have it that low there) and drink service there was quick.

10) Four Queens. Played the 10/7 DB VP machines on the wall near the entrance to Magnolia's (one of their restaurants). Drink service there is fast. Would visit this place again later on in my trip. Had another Heineken.

11) "The D" (former Fitzgerald's). It was getting to be "graveyard shift" at this point. I decided to play blackjack downstairs. I was able to get Guinness here. Drink service was quick. Liked it there. Nearly doubled my buy in. Tipped the dealers. Due to it being graveyard shift, the dancers left the pit only moments after I arrived (boo).

12) El Cortez. Played $3 blackjack. Decent drink service. Broke even on BJ. A word of warning though-- if you decide to play in the poker room here, they have "downgraded" their drink service to wells and drafts (no bottles, no premium or "good" drinks). But this only applies to their poker room.

13) Gold Spike. Played a slot for a while, but saw no CWs. Cashed out. Hand pay, for even a tiny amount (no TITO). Ugh! Decided to go to the bar. Quick service, but mediocre VP pay tables. Was served my choice of beer, though, with no questions. Some kind of dark beer ("Monkey Joes?") was offered in lieu of Guinness and this was good.

14) Main Street Station. Somewhat intoxicated now, I walked back to MSS (very close to The Cal, where I was staying) and played VP at the bar. Their bar-- the Boar's Head Bar-- is my favorite. Full pay VP, a selection of microbrews brewed on the premesis, and a scratch card promotion for each 4OAK.

I wouldn't recommend that everyone try this, as it does take a toll on your body, but it's possible and one of my favorite Vegas activities.

Long live downtown! Cheers!

 

That is awesome!! Thanks
Fortunately for us we are from WI and are very good drinkers. People from other states claim to be drinkers but yeah just not like us.

We will probably not skip our hotel i am sure that is where we will start out. Since there are 4 of us we all have different drink preferences. We all drink many different things and aren't really that picky.

 

Not like us is right!! Have fun and stay safe

 

Sounds like fun. I've done my fair share of downtown casino crawls, but not explicitly attempted to hit all of them in one session. Not sure I'd want to end up too far from my hotel at the end though. If I was staying at the El Cortez, for example, I'd probably start at the MSS and work my way back. Good luck!

 

great stuff raisin, thanks.

 

service..

I agree most part with Raisingoo, doing downtown is a must nd should be done every trip at least once. I have done this starting in the Plaza and ending back at the Vegas Club. Depends on the time of day you start and how much you tip how fast the drink service is going to be. With three or four you can tip $5 upfront and I guarantee you will get good drink service, enjoy and have fun.

 

I have posted thsi suggestion several times.

We have combined a casino crawl with a game of "slot golf". When we play this on the strip, it can take 12 hours or more. Downtown, it can take a lot less. Here are the "rules"

THE RULES:

Slot Golf is a game played on slot machines.Like golf, a game consists of
"holes" and the winner is the person with the fewest strokes over the course
of the game. In slot golf, each "hole" is a turn at a slot machine. A
"stroke" is a pull on a slot machine.

In an ideal game, you play a hole at one casino, do some drinking, maybe
gamble (craps, blackjack, video poker, whatever) and then move on to another
casino and repeat. After 18 holes, the players are ranked according to their
total score, with the winner being the player with the lowest score. The
pool of winnings is distributed. Winnings will be divided based on a payout
schedule determined by the number of players.

Play goes as follows - for each "hole" the player puts a $10 bill in a slot
machine. The payer bets a pre-determined number of credits and pulls the
lever. Each pull is considered a stroke.

* If the player wins one or more credit on the first pull, the
player's score is 1 stroke. The player cashes out, which includes any
remaining original credits and whatever was won on the pull. The player
registers his score of 1 on the scorecard for the first hole and the amount
cashed out is put into the money pot.

* If the player wins nothing on the first pull, the player repeats
the bet and the pull. This continues until the player wins at least one
credit. For example, at a $.25 machine, we decide it will be a five credit hole. The player spins. Lets say that nothing is won on the first two pulls, and then
there is a winner on the third pull for 20 credits. The player records a 3 for that hole. The player cashes out $11.25 ($6.25 are his remaining credits plus he won $5 on his winning spin) and the money goes into the pool.

* All players play the same or identical machines. So in our case, all five players gather near one machine. The first player puts in his money and takes his turn. Then the other players take their turn.

* This is repeated for 18 holes.

 

Fun and easy to do downtown. I suggest to collect a $1 chip from each casino. They make nice souvenirs and bring back lots of great memories years later. Have a great time!!

 

Thank you for all of your suggestions and advice.
We will be ending our crawl at El Cortez for Elvis and Karaoke this can't be good.

 

You'll have a great time.

 

Thank You very much. I am going to try the Downtown Loop at the end of Dec. Downtown Loop should be a sticky.

 

I finally completed my collection last week. I didn't get a drink at every casino on the FSE, but came damn close.

 

I read this post a couple days ago and thought it was a great idea. I talked with my Vegas buddy and we are going to do this next Monday. Cant wait!