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Anybody Miss Old Downtown?

Discussion in 'Downtown Hotels' started by Electroguy563, Nov 3, 2013.

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  1. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

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    Downtown was a place where people took gambling seriously. Low limits, good rules, good odds, laid back, un-pretentious atmosphere.

    Food was cheap, plenty, rarely fancy. Just fuel to continue one's gambling quest.

    Rooms were spartan, clean (well, most of them), cheap, and small. A place to sleep and wash up, then out the door.

    With few exceptions, this is what Downtown was. Gambling was the entertainment it offered.

    It was a low-roller's paradise with free-flowing booze, easy comps and happy-go-lucky gamblers packed like sardines into fun-filled casinos.

    Anybody miss ole Downtown? Was it better or worse than it is now?
     
  2. scottydoog

    scottydoog Low-Roller

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    I know exactly what you mean, however, people just expect sooooo much more these days.
    It,s a bit like when cell phones first came out, everyone was just glad to talk on the move, then came along color screens and music and camera and games options, then bluetooth etc etc etc you get the idea, now even a $9.99 throw-away cell phone has all those things.
    People now expect to get a shitload of channels on a flat screen TV, they want coffee makers and fridges and all the things that we take for granted in a mid level hotel room. It all has to be paid for by someone.....namely mr & mrs regular low roller visitor to Vegas.
    It does have to be said though, that $ for $ Vegas has the best value hotel rooms in the USA.
     
  3. cap7557

    cap7557 Tourist

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    fixed your post.

    I'm amazed at the lack of meaningful change. Downtown is a place stuck in the past, filled with people who are stuck in the past.

    I find it disgusting, but the casinos seem to be surviving without me.
     
  4. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    thank god you fixed it. i was really confused without that important correction.

    there's still some of what you lament about the downtown of old, but it's not as bountiful. how has that helped casinos that abandoned the model?

    interesting that the D promotes its odds on craps and its 3:2 pay on all blackjack tables. does that matter much to the gambler who is intolerant of the party atmosphere/noise on the main floor? the formula worked at Golden Gate, and seems to be working at the D. it seemed to have a good crowd around the tables in the evening this past week.
     
  5. Laura_W

    Laura_W Low-Roller

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    I do believe he meant what he said in his post. No fixing needed.
    Some people do NOT enjoy the strip, my husband being one of them. Does this mean he's stuck in the past? No, it means he enjoys the more laid back-ness of DT. Paying crazy hotel rates, with ridiculious resort fees for nothing usefull (really $28.00 a night for wifi we will never use, local calls we will never make, and access to a fitness center we will never set foot in??), expensive food, tighter slots.
    Everyone has their own opinion about DT.
     
  6. MikeOPensacola

    MikeOPensacola El Jefe

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    Disgusting??? What is so disgusting about Fremont Street, or those who enjoy what it has to offer. Just curious.........
     
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  7. cap7557

    cap7557 Tourist

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    Primarily it's the tobacco. Every downtown casino is overwhelmed by it. And because the downtown clientele skews lower-class, it's almost impossible to avoid. Downtown gamblers smoke everywhere: in the hotel lobbies, at the cashier, on the escalators and elevators, and directly next to a non-smoker seated at a machine or table game.

    I would describe the entire city as stuck in the past. The strip and locals casinos are intolerable as well, but downtown sets the standard.
     
  8. Trailer666

    Trailer666 Low-Roller

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    I know what you mean about the smoke. I was playing a slot machine at the Cortez for several hours in July when this woman sits directly across from me and lights up her cigarette blowing that crap right at me as she is smiling away. I had to leave as the smoke was bothering me so much. At least the man that was sitting in the same machine earlier had the courtesy to turn away a bit and blow the smoke away. I am a non-smoker so there is always the adjustment of being gassed by smokers in some casinos. Some of the casinos have a non-smoking area like the Orleans where you can play without gagging on second hand smoke. I still like downtown however as you don't get hosed on resort fees or overpriced average rooms.
     
  9. Italladdsup

    Italladdsup Low-Roller

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    I do not think people who like downtown are stuck in the past. Everybody enjoys different things and some of us enjoy the value of playing downtown. I have never hit anything big on the strip and I have hit 5 royal flushes downtown. If you think downtown is disgusting you must have your eyes closed when you are walking on the strip. Maybe we like downtown to stay away from people who group everyone and everything together!
     
  10. Buddha

    Buddha VIP Whale

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    We love downtown, and what we miss the most is all of our long-ago stays at Binion's Horseshoe , when Jack Binion (Benny's son) ran it. Jack, like his Dad, made sure the gamblers got a fair shake for their action. Back then, your "action" earned you comped rooms, AND it also earned you .5% food comps on that same "action", AND it also earned you .25% cash-back on that same "action". Difficult to find that now-days without some heavy begging.

    But then, Jack's sister, Becky pulled a fast one, and forced Jack out, followed by Becky running the place into the ground, then taken over by the Feds, and eventually sold to Harrah's, and on, and on, downhill ..... :grrr:
     
  11. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

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    You crossed out the word "fun". Go back and FIX IT!!:beer::thumbsup:
     
  12. Huddler

    Huddler VIP Whale

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    I ONLY stayed on the strip for years and years. Then started going downtown for a night every trip as I found it to be VERY fun and festive. Then started staying downtown because I like to casino hop. Now I stay on the strip sometimes, as I am fully comped at most places except Wynn, and sometimes I stay downtown as I am comped there too. I like both and dont try to denigrate those who don't share my opinions.
     
  13. cap7557

    cap7557 Tourist

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    Acknowledged. I didn't intend to tar everyone with the same brush. There are plenty of folks downtown that I could have fun with, including some of the Hawaiians at the Cal, and probably 3 or 4 people at each of the other casinos.

    1 or 2 at the El Cortez.

    Sorry about that, but I think I did liven up your discussion thread :eek:
     
  14. TFK

    TFK High-Roller

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    I've often lamented about how everything I loved about Vegas is slowly disappearing, and it's a damn shame.

    I stopped staying and gambling on the strip years ago when I just got fed up with the Eurotrash, Metrosexuals and LA Trust Fund babies who were more concerned about dropping hundreds on a couple of bottles of Goose than finding a decent game of blackjack.

    I really hope the party pits, stripper dealers, hip hop blasting in the casinos, resort fees and lousy blackjack that have been infesting downtown are just a fad, and hopefully everything that made downtown great returns, and the sooner the better.

    TFK
     
  15. sco5123

    sco5123 VIP Whale

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    I would still describe DT like that generally. But I only have experience since 2010.
     
  16. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    A totally appropriate term for such a nostalgic type post and not one you, or at least I, hear everyday this century... I had to look it up.

    "marked by simplicity, frugality, or avoidance of luxury and comfort" <a Spartan room>

    Well done... :nworthy:
     
  17. GrtWitHntr

    GrtWitHntr Low-Roller

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    :cry::cry::cry::cry:People were smoking..... :cry::cry::cry:
     
  18. topcard

    topcard Here's to $10 3:2 two-deck, $5 Craps, and $5 UTH!

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    LOL

    ...one of the great appeals of Vegas for me (and others, I'm sure) is that it's one of the few remaining places in the United States where a smoker can actually engage while (are you sitting down) ...gasp...indoors.

    Nevada law is very clear on this part: Casinos are "private clubs" from a legal standpoint. That's why they can bar you. It's also why they can "permit" smoking.
    I can assure y'all - if any investor thought that a non-smoking casino in Las Vegas would be popular and profitable, we'd have several of them open and thriving today...and, of course, we don't.
     
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  19. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    Different strokes for different folks. On a recent trip with my wife, she fell in love with the opulence of the Bellagio. Never cashed a winning slot ticket, but she wants to stay there on our next trip. Had a few very expensive Heinekens at the slots. We stayed at Vdara, walked through Crystals and some of the forum shops at Caesars. But damn, how many Prada shops do they need in a one mile radius!

    On the other hand, I felt more at ease with downtown, the 4 Queens, MSS, and Golden Gate. Walking down the FSE with a beer, hopping between casinos, stopping to hear a band, checking it the light show, I even took pity on a fellow degenerate and helped him open his Stella Artois in front of the ABC when he realized it was not a twist off. I felt more at ease than on the strip. I am a non smoker and really didn't notice any difference than on the strip. My motto is smoke 'em if you got 'em, but please don't blow it my way. I you ask nicely, I'm sure they will comply. You always get more bees with honey than vinegar. My only problem was at Binion's, low ceilings and a little more smoke than the rest and 6:5 blackjack. But, I loved the steakhouse.
     
  20. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    One of the key features of the $2.4 Billion Revel Casino in Atlantic City was its non smoking environment. It went bankrupt and remains one of the lowest earning casinos in that market. Its monthly "win" was on par with the Atlantic Club, one of the smallest casinos in AC, a place that could not find a buyer @ $14 million. Revel now offers smoking areas.
     
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2013
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