Editor’s note: This is the article I wish I could write. I’ve long had the goal of trying to make it out to more of the various local casinos, but simply have limited time and motivation as the Strip and downtown’s gravity keep me venturing far. My perpetual lack of transportation doesn’t help. That’s why I’m again thankful for Taylor. He’s a Vegas veteran and frequent contributor to this site. Here, he details why you may want to consider venturing away from the Strip and getting in on some local action.
By: Taylor from New Mexico
Background
On my way to and from Red Rock Canyon last year, I stopped by at Red Rock Casino to grab a bite to eat, use the restroom, and play some video poker. Last year, my girlfriend Tara had a conference at Red Rock Casino. We didn’t stay at the hotel because we were paying out of pocket and the conference rate was still more expensive than our free rooms at El Cortez (then it turned out to be the Mayweather-Paquiao fight weekend, and the rooms really dried up). However, the view from the conference area over the pool was amazing and we talked about staying there sometime.
However, between the Strip and Downtown, who has time for off-strip? Well, we booked our trip for 2 nights at Golden Nugget downtown, and 3 nights at Cosmopolitan for the 4th of July weekend. Something happened though. We wanted to extend our trip one more day, and if we cut out one day of Cosmo, it’d pay for 2 nights at Red Rock, so we decided to do 2 nights downtown, 2 nights on the Strip, and 2 nights off-strip (in fact, 2 nights at Cosmo were more expensive than the other 4 nights combined). Minor issue of Red Rock spa’s coed pool being closed made us change from Red Rock to Green Valley Ranch.
Our most recent trip
Our 2 nights at Golden Nugget went as expected, exciting gambling, drinking, and dining downtown. However, even after using the Golden Nugget spa, you can’t help but escape the bustling (especially the GN pool) of downtown.
Our 2 nights at Cosmopolitan went by fast. This happens on the Strip, because everything takes a lot more time than you’d think. Walking over to the Bamboo pool (West Tower) from our room in East Tower even takes a good what seems like a half an hour. On our second day (which was the only full day at Cosmo), walking over to Aria, using the spa, then Ubering to TI for Avenger STATION and back, took most of our day. Walking from anywhere to anywhere on the Strip takes a long time, and time is so precious. Plus, once we get to the Strip, we basically limit our gambling to bartop video poker to get drinks. We certainly can’t afford $15 craps or $25 blackjacks.
Our time at Green Valley Ranch
Then we Ubered to Green Valley Ranch. The room was as nice as any Strip room. We tried the pool and it wasn’t as crowded as Golden Nugget, and wasn’t as douchey as Cosmopolitan. Just a nice luxury pool with a right amount of unpretentious locals.
Consider this. Why do we like Downtown? Great gambling. Easy to find good VP paytables, low limit table games with good rules. Why do we like the Strip? At the moment, we love spas, and luxury rooms with great bars. I must admit that if you can afford to gamble at higher limits, there really is no reason for you to go down to Fremont Street or to Green Valley Ranch. But I can’t find a 3-2 blackjack for anything less than $25 and $1 Bonus Poker on the Strip, so here we were at Green Valley Ranch.
How do local casinos do it?
The first thing you’ll notice when you walk into GVR or Red Rock (and I’m sure Aliante) is that it’s really nice. It’s as luxurious as any higher end Strip casino. Yet, you’ll find that food is cheaper, gambling is cheaper, and drinks are cheaper. How is it possible? And why is this not possible on the Strip?
The answer is the fundamental business plan of local casinos. On the Strip, your “regulars” come in once a month at the most to unload a few thousand at most each time. Locals don’t go to the Strip, because it’s congested and far from their homes. At local casinos, on the other hand, your regulars come in at least once a week to unload…. Okay I need to explain something first real quick. The first casino I regularly went to was a small Indian casino in Oklahoma, which reminds you of a bingo hall in a high school gym. There, I saw and met a particular demographics that I had never thought of before. These are the seniors, in their 60s, 70s, and 80s (and 90s sometime). Their children and grandchildren don’t visit as much. They don’t need to buy any “stuff” anymore. Yet, they have some kind of annuities in the form of social security payments or defined benefit pension payments. When you’re retired and your house and car are paid off, you don’t/can’t travel, and don’t need to buy “stuff,” you can either watch TV all day or go to the casino for entertainment. They’re not saving money because you don’t take your savings with you when you die.
So all a local casino needs to do is keep grandpa Jerry happy and his sweet pension is going to casinos in due time (I am not judgmental on how people spend their money nor on how casinos provide entertainment to these people). This is why local casino buffets are so cheap. $14.99 for dinner at Green Valley Ranch. Using MyVegas coupon, Tara and I ate 2 for 1. A gentleman behind us, after telling the cashier that he’s a local and a senior, had a bill totaling… $4. Think of all the retirees from New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, who used to come to Vegas in their youth. A thousand of them are now retired, living in warm Henderson, each getting paid anywhere between $30,000 to $75,000. As long as you feed them for cheap and keep them happy, that’s about $30,000,000 to $75,000,000 to GVR. It’s not like they’ll drive to the Strip or Summerlin.
Boyd and Station Casinos know who they cater to and are very good at what they do.
Anyway, back to why we liked Green Valley Ranch.
Why you should give GVR or other luxury local casinos a try:
-Gambling: $5 3-2 BJ and $5 craps all the time. Full pay video poker at $0.25 level everywhere. Try vpfree2 for GVR. You’ll be amazed. The best game was a $10 double deck blackjack (, which was dealt from a shoe). You could double on a split. This rule is not available even downtown.
-Dining: Fine dining to casual dining. When you’re on the Strip, you reach a point when you just can’t eat at restaurants every meal. Local casinos have food courts for when you just want to get the familiar Panda Express.
-Entertainment: Movies and arcade. Tara and I watched a movie on the first night. It’s refreshing to just sit back and enjoy a movie. We also spent $20 at the arcade. Some casinos have bowling available.
-Shopping: GVR and Red Rock are right next to popular outdoor malls.
-Pool/Spa: Spa use is included in the resort fees at GVR and Red Rock. Pools are mentioned as above
-The upside/downside of local casinos: The upside is also the downside in our case. Tara sometimes feels like we go to Vegas all the time for all our vacations (Tara says Vegas Fanwife may relate to this). Going to GVR felt like she was at a regular resort. The downside is that she felt like she wasn’t in Vegas. It’s complicated. J
Conclusion
I’m not saying that you should consider Arizona Charlie’s Decatur or East Cannery. But a few Station and Boyd properties are worth a mention. Red Rock and Green Valley Ranch are nicer than a lot of Strip casinos. I hear Aliante (recently bought by Boyd) is also really nice, though we haven’t been there. Palms, recently bought by Station Casinos, is also closer to the Strip and is known to cater well to locals (= good gambling. Also has regular and iMAX movie theaters). I’d also throw in Orleans in there. Orleans is upping their restaurants, has a movie theater, and is a Boyd property, which means your action counts towards B Connected, which includes Fremont, Cal, and MSS downtown. Lastly, M Resort is well liked by the locals, and the company now owns Tropicana on the Strip. Lastly lastly, South Point is known for their oyster bar among other things, movies, and bowling.
If you want to have relaxing resort experience, with the availability of great gambling, and affordable wide range of dining, try off-strip casinos once. I think, in December, we’ll do an off-Strip casino (either Orleans or Red Rock. Palms or Aliante if they switch over to Boarding Pass and B Connected, respectively, in time), and Uber to the Strip one evening and to Downtown one afternoon.
Feature photo: “Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa” by Kennejima via CC BY 2.0