Southcoast: Opening Night

Click here for Opening Night Pictures

Last night, we made it out to the South Coast for opening night. Sadly, we missed the fireworks display (darn, work schedules got in the way). I hear it was quite spectacular and it went on for some 15 minutes. We made our way to the casino around 8pm. Traffic was insane. Las Vegas Blvd. was bumper to bumper from North of Blue Diamond Rd. to practically St. Rose Parkway. Rather than sitting in the traffic we made a detour and came via Silverado Ranch. We avoided much of the traffic and entered the parking garage with ease.

The parking garage is a dream. Nicely designed, bravo! We found parking far easier than I expected. The garage smelled so nice and new, the paint was fresh and clean. No foot prints all over the walls. It may seem silly, but we were impressed with the garage.

Seconds, later we entered the newest casino-hotel in town. The hustle and bustle was great. Heads bopping down the aisles resembling an ant farm, and the sounds were intense. It was similar to partaking in the world’s largest slot tournament. Since TITO has taken over casino floors, casinos are generally quiet, but this night…it was tap, tap, clank, tap, tap in stereo.

The gaming tables were fresh, as well. The chips in the banks were flawless – glistening from the lights above. Minimum bet on the table games was $5. We passed by the tables several times and I only saw one empty table. It was $25 blackjack, it appeared the house went on a streak cleaned the players out, but it didn’t remain empty for long.

Initially, it was difficult to find an open seat at the slot and video poker machines. We weren’t able to be choosy in selecting with games to play. We gave some play to $1 DDB, nickel triple play, and nickel and penny video slots. Nothing turned out to be profitable.

So we moved on to the sportsbook.. Wow! Very roomy, definitely, the largest of all the Coasts Sports/Race books. Race is separate from sports, which is nice to see. Decent set-up for both sides. And there’s a large Sports bar and lounge with plenty of tables, chairs and booths. We placed our Pick the Pro’s parlays … Please Santa, can we go all the way this week?

From there, we checked out the poker room. It’s small compared to Gold Coast and Orleans. It seems to be a bit of an afterthought. Unimpressed.

We walked by all the restaurants each had its own cozy setting. All were lively with many guests. Dining choices include: Don Vito (Italian), Silverado (steakhouse), Garden Buffet, Coronado Café, Baja Miguels (Mexican) and the Big Sur Oyster bar. Kate’s corner and Seattle’s Best were hopping too. Additionally, I noticed that a deli will be coming soon near the sportsbook.

The Century Theaters were open for business, as well as, the Bowling Alley. The Alley has lanes on both sides and has flat screen panels to assist in keeping score. The bowling shoes were picture perfect sitting on the counter, they were cleanest I’ve ever seen.

After scoping out the property we returned to the slots and played some more VP. Saw some banks with awful paytables and some decent banks, as well. Sadly, the poor paying machines were just as busy. I stumbled on a quarter slot and made back my losses plus an additional $30. I was a happy camper. Especially, funny because minutes before I said, “Hey! I thought casinos were supposed to payout opening nightâ€. Frank replied, “that is just word spread on the street to get you in doorâ€.

I was done gambling for the night, but Frank pressed on chasing a win. Unfortunately, his not-so-good luck continued. He was down to his last $40 when we passed an available seat on a fifty cent DDB Game King, so he jumped on it as a last ditch effort. He was down to his final $5 and all along I’m praying he hits something, otherwise, I knew he’d get pissy… he doesn’t like parting with his money. Then he’s dealt Ace, Ten, Queen of Spades… hit deal… Sure enough, the King and Jack of Spades pop up. Initially, we thought it was 4 to the Royal (we’ve been in 4 to the Royal hell for long-long time), but then it triggered in my head and I screamed, “Holy Shit! You got itâ€. He gazed blankly back at me, and then it hit him… He won $2000 freakin’ dollars.

This is, by far, the biggest win we’ve experienced so we grinned from ear to ear until our cheeks were killing us. We went to sleep with visions of benjamins dancing in our heads…

I guess it’s true, the casinos do payout on opening night!

Overall, the Southcoast is a very nice property. It’s similar to the Suncoast, but with a little more attention to detail and a tad more modern. Worth a visit! We’ll be staying at the hotel Jan. 1st, I’ll be sure to share details after our stay.

 

looks nice

Looks and sounds nice, vegasbound...congrats on the royal btw....

May have to venture down that way on the next trip.

Looking at the pic of the VP machine I was laughing thinking about the ones and some of the not so nice places around town. Most of them at the bar at Boardwalk the buttons dont work from having so much crap spilled on them and my girlfriend played one downtown cant remember where but I think it was fremont of plaza that the button wouldnt hold if you pressed it..you'd have to hold it in with one hand and hit the draw button with the other or it wouldnt hold the card haha.


Didnt I see on some tv show about the psychological effect of how casinos are designed....that carpet is enough to give you a head ache. Dont know why they put such weird designs on them unless it is to keep you looking straight ahead instead of at the floor.

Nice pics..

thanks

Brian

 

What a beautiful picture! Congratulations.

 

Talk about your early present - VERY NICE!!! I can't wait to check it out. Did you happen to notice a place accross the street called Boulevard Bar and Grill? A friend of mine owns it. He's quite excited about the traffic that Southcoast will hopefully bring.

 

Great report Vegasbound, thanks! I might check it out on my way home next month. That is unless I'm too busy cursing about all the money I lost.

 

great hit! now thats a christmas present to remember, and a picture to get framed.

merry christmas!

 

All I can say is SWEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!
Hope the gambling gods shine on me when I stay there in 2 weeks.

 

It was brought up in one of the travel channel shows... The idea behind the busy carpet and dull ceilings is to draw the eye toward the action going on between them.

 

Ron, while we were sitting in traffic, Frank mentioned how great it would be to have a VP bar & grill over there (we really want to own one someday). I agreed and then remembered that you had mentioned that your buddy did have a place over there. I wasn't sure which one, though. So, it's the Boulevard Bar and Grill... We'll have to check it out. He should get tons of new customers, I'm sure the place will be hopping with dealers and other casino employees. Not to mention other passerby's. Business should be good.

 

We didn't eat at any of restaurants, yet. We'll give a couple a try when we stay there. I'll post reviews afterwards.

The Garden Buffet prices:
Breakfast $6.45
Lunch $7.45
Dinner $12.95
Sat. Bruch $8.45
Sun Brunch $11.95
They'll have specialty nights for the dinner buffet, as well. Monday is steak night and I recall the price being around $16.

The R-J had an article regarding the So.Cal. influence in the restaurant menus. There's a blurb in there about the buffet.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Dec-23-Fri-2005/weekly/4879905.html