Christmas in Vegas

This year we decided to spend Christmas in Vegas (with our two grown kids). So, we made a long weekend of it, spending 4 days and three nights.

We had a couple of rooms at Harrahs, so that's where we started off playing on arrival. Nothing but lousy games (8/5JB, 7/5JB, 7/5 Bonus, 6/5 Bonus, 8/5 DDB, etc.), as you would expect for a Strip casino, but we really weren't up for going anywhere else after the flight and dealing with the airport and car rental. They have two lone Multistrike games, where 8/5JB is as good as it gets. Still, we played those out of convenience. And lost, as one might expect. We ate a late dinner at the cafe in Harrahs and the food was okay but the service sucked; our waitress was Nurse Ratchett and the Soup Nazi all rolled into one.

The next day began with a visit to the Forum shops at Caesars, with an hour or more wasted trying to get our party reconnected in the ridiculously huge casino. More lousy games; clearly, it was time to get away from the Strip. A quick vote had us riding down to Fremont Street for a stop at 4 Queens -- you can find a few decent games at 4 Queens, although there are some bad ones, too. We managed to spend the entire afternoon at 4 Queens, losing a little -- but the games were pretty good; we just didn't hit anything to speak of.

That night, the high point of the trip came, when we went to see the 10pm "Love" performance at Mirage. All I can say is if you're heading to Vegas, you don't want to miss it; everyone will enjoy it regardless of age. It was fabulous in every respect, and I think I could see it a couple more times without an ounce of boredom creeping in.

Early the next morning it was decided we wouldn't spend any time in Strip casinos, and headed out to Green Valley Ranch. There, you find plenty of excellent video poker in a really nice facility. Tons of 8/5 Bonus, a bank of 8 excellent paying Multistrike games, and some 10/6 DDB PROGRESSIVEs, which my wife really likes to play. GVR is a really good place for video poker players -- it is nice, very well-kept, and has plenty of good games. We were comped to the buffet mid-afternoon and found it to be surprisingly good, with an excellent selection of good stuff to eat.

Still, none of us had hit anything big, although there had been a couple of premium 4s on the 10/6 DDB games. We decided to move on, as we had wanted to check out the Rio, having never been there before. Well, never before, and probably never again.

The Rio was really one of the low points in our visit. For openers, the show was dark. To add insult to injury, the games were horrible. I suppose we stayed no more than an hour, and it was pretty much a waste. I don't think any of us would really want to go there again.

Finally, we decided to check out Gold Coast Casino, down the street, a place we'd not been to before. What a great place to play!

If you're going to play video poker in Vegas, Gold Coast is where you want to be. Tons of video poker, and tons of great games. Banks of FPDW, 10/7 DB, 10/8 DDB, and my personal favorites, Multistrike with 9/6 JB. My daughter was lucky enough to hit a 3rd line Royal (25c) for $4,000, while my wife hit several (5, 6?) sets of premium 4s on the dollar DDB (9/6 -- the 100% plus games are limited to quarters). Combined with other miscellaneous wins (including a $700 hit on on the Wheel of Fortune), we left Gold Coast ahead for the trip. No, it isn't as nice as Strip casinos or GVR, but it is clean, the machines are in good condition, the cocktail waitresses are accessible, and you cannot find better games.

Before leaving for the airport the next morning, we spent a little time playing at Harrahs where I played some 8/5 JB ($5) for a while, and managed to get out $700 ahead, which probably covered what everyone else lost that morning. Since we had enough play to eat free, we decided to eat at Harrahs buffet for lunch. It was packed, the the food was lousy.

Harrahs was a bit of a disappointment. I knew the games would be mediocre, but I do expect reasonably good service at the food establishments, and that just didn't happen. I will say the comped rooms were decent, one a very nice suite -- but the food service was one big disappointment.

Overall, the trip was great. The Beatles show was fabulous. And GVR and Gold Coast were lots of fun. At this point I find I have very little desire to visit Strip casinos in the future. Clearly, you aren't going to get a good game -- of any kind -- there. At some point you get tired of looking at the big, gitzy, crowded casinos and just want to find a good game of video poker.