Vincent, the Fiesta, and a Horseshoe Trip

Day 280 on the road.
Firehouse Coffee Company, Laughlin
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I'm back in Laughlin for the week, after spending the weekend in Boulder City, Henderson, and Las Vegas. Mid-May weather in the area has become very hot. Today's temperature in Laughlin is expected to be 112 degrees. But a cold front is moving in mid-week and will drop the heat back to a more humane 82 degrees.
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This past Saturday morning I drove to Boulder City hoping that Vincent had an available room. I had reservations at the Fiesta Casino Hotel in Henderson for Sunday night. So when I left Laughlin I was hoping to get lucky and find a room in Boulder City for Saturday night.

Vincent owns a 16-room hotel in downtown Boulder City called the Western Inn. Each room has a small kitchen and the beds are comfortable enough. It's also a really quiet and easy-going place. When I first met Vincent a few weeks ago, he said, "I keep it quiet around here. Since I'm the owner, I can say who stays here and who doesn't." Guests also get free Internet access. For me it's a no-brainer to stay at the Western Inn unless I find a special at a casino and receive a nice room rate.

When I arrived in Boulder City I stopped for gas and then drove to the Western Inn. The office was closed and Vincent was nowhere in sight. So I left my business card on his office door with the note, "Vincent, if you have a room available give me a call. I'll be down the street at Starbucks." I had been at Starbucks for about 20 minutes when Vincent gave me a call. "Hey, Mitch, I've got a room for you. If I have to, I'll kick someone out."

So I checked into the Western Inn about 1 p.m. on Saturday and began thinking about where to play some poker for the evening. I decided to drive to downtown Las Vegas and play in the historic poker room at Binion's Gambling Hall and Casino, formerly Binion's Horseshoe Casino.


The Horseshoe is the place that first hosted the World Series of Poker in 1970 and was the birthplace of modern day poker, at least in Las Vegas. Harrah's Entertainment bought The Horseshoe, including rights to the WSOP. Harrah's subsequently sold the downtown casino hotel to MTR Gaming in 2004 but retained ownership of the "Horseshoe" name and all rights to the World Series of Poker. Thus, the WSOP main event and the series events are now played at Harrah's properties around the world.

(Photo right: I took this picture of the "signature board", containing the signatures of famous poker players and WSOP champions, etc. The "Poker Hall of Fame" is in another exhibit nearby, but I wasn't sure about taking photos in the poker room.)

But the old gambling hall still stands and is now known as Binion's Gambling Hall. It is coming under new ownership once again. This time, the new owners are promising upgrades and an expansion plan.

When I first walked in to the poker room at Binion's I immediately was struck by the history of the place. For one thing, the poker room was the sight of the final table for the World Series in 2003 when Chris Moneymaker won the Championship and became the catalyst for the so-called "poker boom" that has seen the game explode in popularity around the world. It was a very cool place to play poker.
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(Photo above, from left to right: Johnny Moss, Chill Wills, Amarillo Slim, Jack Binion, Puggy Pearson, at the 1974 World Series of Poker at The Horseshoe.)

I played at Binion's until 9:30 p.m., about 7 hours or so. I then walked out into the "Fremont Street Experience" to check out the country and western bands who were playing concerts. The Academy of Country Music Awards was scheduled for it's live broadcast from Caesar's Palace Las Vegas on Sunday night, but on Saturday night on Fremont Street many of the bands were scheduled to play. The crowd was enormous. The Freemont Street Experience is weird and crowded enough on a regular night with tourists and hookers. But when you add the bands, concerts, and celebrities on this particular night, what you get is a mass of humanity that is unbelievable. (See photos of the mayhem below.) I didn't stay long.
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On Sunday I moved from the Western Inn in Boulder City over to the Fiesta Casino Hotel in Henderson, about a ten-minute drive west on Hwy. 93 toward Las Vegas. I spent the afternoon playing poker at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson.

My room at the Fiesta was okay, but noisy. The bed was compfy and the plasma flat-screen TV was a nice upgrade. However, my room had a door leading the room next door and it was not sound-proofed at all. I could hear every movement from the family staying in the room beside me. Plus the AC fan was cutting on and off (no way to keep the fan on at all times...a real dumb design flaw) all night. So I doubt I'll be back to the Fiesta. The hotel and casino itself are topnotch. I watched "Iron Man" at the cinema (great movie) and ate at their buffet (not bad). But I didn't get much sleep.

On Monday morning I checked out at the Fiesta and drove to downtown Boulder City. I drank coffee and read the paper at the little country cafe in the downtown historic district and really liked the small-town environment. The small cafe was an old-style diner, complete with locals sitting on stools at the counter eating pancakes.

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I was back in Lauglin by 1 p.m. and playing poker at the River Palms, earning another free room comp.

Las Vegas Revisited

Day 273 on the road.

Firehouse Coffee Company, Laughlin

I'm back in Laughlin for another week. Last weekend's trip to Vegas was a successful. I played poker at the Bellagio, Mirage, and Red Rock casinos. I also utilized the monorail system on the Vegas strip to get around.

On Saturday I left Laughlin for the 90-minute drive to Vegas. I arrived at the Sahara Hotel and Casino on the northside of the Strip and checked. My room wasn't available until after 3 p.m., so I had about some time to kill. I decided to visit the Bellagio poker room for some afternoon gaming.

The Sahara has a Monorail Station at its location, so it was an easy walk to the rail. I paid $9 for a 24-hour unlimited ride ticket, and took the monorail to the Bally's Station. Bally's casino is located across the street from the Bellagio.

(Photo right: the Monorail at the Sahara.)

Once you depart from the train at Bally's you have long walk through the casino to a monorail walkway that provides an easy standing-ride to the street. From the front of Bally's, an escalator takes you to the bridge that crosses the street. After walking across the bridge, you enter the Bellagio and have an easy walk to Caesar's Palace.

(Photo left and below: the monorail walkway to the street from Bally's.)

I left the Sahara just after 12 o'clock noon, and it took about 30-40 minutes to arrive at the Bellagio using the rail system. The longest walk was making my way through the Bally's casino after exiting the monorail.

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(Photo left: looking south from the bridge crossing the street from Bally's to the Bellagio.)

(Photo above: The Bally's Monorail Station.)

Once inside the Bellagio, it's a nice stroll through their retail mall before entering the casino itself. The poker room was busy, not unusual for a Saturday afternoon. I waited about 30 minutes for a seat to open up for a $4-$8 Limit Holdem game.

I played poker at the Bellagio until 5:30 p.m., then cashed out and headed back to the Sahara via the monorail. I picked up my key at the Sahara and checked into my room for the evening. I stayed on the 23rd floor of the Alexandria Tower, giving me a nice view looking west over the city. The room itself was spacious, but outdated. The furniture was old, vintage 1970s, and well-worn. The carpet was clean, but stained and just about worn out. The bathroom fixtures worked, but were below average in condition.

The Sahara is an aged, musty, smelly, crowded, and nostalgic casino dating back to the vintage days of old Vegas when the Rat Pack performed and Hollywood stars walked the floor. Old photographs throughout the property reflect its history: there's Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performing in the nightclub, and a photo hanging behind the registration desk shows Cary Grant and Alan Ladd with their wives standing in one of the Sahara's courtyards. Elvis also performed here.

While the Sahara has a history and nostalgia that permeates the place, and I'm sure many ghosts and old Hollywood spirits live throughout the place, the hotel needs a facelift. The rooms are cheap enough on certain nights, especially condsidering its location on the Strip. But the condition of the place is below average.

After resting for a while, that night I took the monorail to the Mirage for dinner and some late night poker. I ate at the California Pizza Kitchen located inside the Mirage, next to the poker room. After playing cards for a couple of hours I was ready to return to the Sahara for some sleep. The view I had of the Vegas skyline at night was the best feature of my room at the Sahara. (See photos below.)

(Above: Day time view from my room at the Sahara.)

(Above: Night time view from my room at the Sahara.)

(Above: View from the bed.)

On Sunday morning I moved about a mile west, off the Strip, to the Palace Station. The Palace was the first casino that began the Station Casinos empire, being built back in the 1970s. The Palace is a nice hotel and casino, a definite improvement over the Sahara in condition and amenities. I stayed in the Courtyard, which is an area surrounding the pool. Although these rooms are among the oldest at the hotel, my room was remodeled and updated to an above average condition. The bathroom had ceramic tile and new fixtures. The TV and furniture were all new, and the king-sized bed was comfortable. The room was small, but that was no concern.

After checking in Sunday at noon, I left the Palace and drove west toward Summerlin and the Red Rock Casino. The Red Rock is another Station casino (like the Palace and Green Valley Ranch) and it's a great place. I'll be back to the Red Rock for sure. I played poker until 6 p.m., then ate a Mother's Day dinner at the Feast Buffet, located inside the casino. I "feasted" on BBQ, turkey and dressing, shrimp, mashed potatos, corn, macoroni and cheese, green beans, salad, soup, breads of all kinds, apple cobbler, ice cream, and pecan pie.

After a peaceful night at the Palace, I checked out and drove to Boulder City for a quick visit before returning to Laughlin.

Day 267 on the road.
Firehouse Coffee Company, Laughlin

The drive to Laughlin from Boulder City last Sunday afternoon was uneventful. It's a quiet trip going south on Hwy. 95, with little to see but mountains and flatlands which follow a straight course as you make your way to the cutoff going east to Laughlin.

The drive to Laughlin is beautiful once you veer east from the cutoff at the intersection of Hwy. 95 and Hwy. 163. The highway cuts through a mountain range to enter the Colorado River valley and the towns of Bullhead City and Laughlin.

As you can tell from the photo above, I'm back to work on my blogs, and doing some writing. The posting of video clips and photos to this blog and elsewhere is time-consuming. I invest a couple of hours downloading the photos from my Cheap Nikon Camera, editing and resizing them so I can post them online. The video clips take time, too. I edit the clips, add the transitions and title slides, then select and edit the music and sound.

My plans for the rest of the week: poker at the River Palms to maintain my free room and board, a movie or two at the nearby cinema, and maybe a nice dinner at the Outback Steakhouse located inside the Golden Nugget Casino Resort just down the block from the River Palms.

This weekend I'll be back to Las Vegas. I've booked a room at the Sahara Las Vegas Hotel and Casino for Saturday night, and Sunday night I'll move over to the Palace Station Hotel and Casino . I'm "casino hopping" in order to review the various hotels on the Strip. I'll return to the River Palms on Monday. For the month of May I'll be staying Monday through Saturday in Laughlin, and Saturday and Sunday at various locales in Las Vegas.

I'm also going to drive around Boulder City this weekend. I may settle down there some day. I'd love to take advantage of the real estate values there. I can see nothing but good things for Boulder City in the next ten years, and property values are almost guaranteed to keep going up.

Day 253 on the road.
Firehouse Coffee Co., Laughlin

The 26th Annual River Run begins officially today in Laughlin, with bikers from around the world riding into town for a weekend of shows, contests, and general mayhem. I'm glad I'm leaving for the weekend.

I walked the strip yesterday afternoon to see vendors getting ready to open their booths for selling everything from T-shirts to motorcycles. Hummer and Harley Davidson are the big

sponsors, along with Jack Daniels and Miller Beer. Although I read that 60,000 bikers are expected to attend the events, the economy and gas prices are having an effect. Many of the casinos have vacant rooms. If you are willing to pay the high price, plenty of rooms are available.

The parking lots at each of the casinos are full of white tents and semi-trucks bringing in supplies and party goods. Some of the sponsors are having outdoor concerts and setting up eating facilities under the tents. Dozens of port-a-potties are scattered up and down the strip. The entire length of Casino Drive is fenced off so that underaged party goers can't enter the drinking areas.









I'm driving 90 miles north to Las Vegas for the weekend. My free "comped" room is not available at the River Palms. I'd have to pay the weekend rate, which is doubled for this event. In addition, I don't want to mess with the traffic and crowds. Therefore, I'm taking the opportunity to venture into the City That Never Sleeps.

I'll be staying at The Orleans in Las Vegas and will return to Laughlin on Sunday.

Biker Mania

Day 252 on the road.
Firehouse Coffee Co., Laughlin

Laughlin is going crazy this week due to 60,000 Harley bike riders coming to town for the Laughlin River Run. The parking lots are full of white tents set up by vendors selling biker junk: t-shirts, hats, glasses, leather gear and clothing, even bikes. The casinos are having various contests and shows, including the "Best Fat Belly" contest, which I might enter.

Yesterday I was kicked upstairs to the 18th floor to another room. I don't why, exactly. The room is just like the one I was in (river view, two queen size beds, sitting area, etc.), but for some reason the front desk told me they needed me to move to another room. No big deal.

On Thursday I'll have to vacate the River Palms to make room for Bikers. On Sunday I can check back in and get my room back. I have another week of free nights already in place, so why not stay a while longer?

Thursday I'll head to Las Vegas for the weekend. After more than 250 days on the road, I'll finally make it to the City that Never Sleeps. When I left Texas months ago, Vegas was my initial destination.

I've been asked, "Why move to the Vegas area?" Well, I saw this clip.