The non-smokers guide to Vegas
Written: Jun 15 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: You can have a good time without smelling like a butt-fiend.
Cons: But you need to know where to go.
The Bottom Line: I love Las Vegas. It's always changing.
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| youngdoog's Full Review: The Strip |
The problem: Gamblers are smokers, and smokers are gamblers. Not exactly true, but it's estimated that over 60% of Vegas high-rollers are smokers. All casinos allow unfettered smoking of any kind-except dope, I assume. So we need to find:
1. Places that don't stink like my grandfather's cigar encrusted suit, and
2. Places that give us a better chance to win on the slot and video poker machines. This review does not cover the table games, since their odds are all basically the same, depending on the type of game, etc.
Overview: Vegas has 3 main areas of interest. The Strip, Downtown, and Boulder Highway. The Strip has the classy casinos, with high ceilings and cleaner air, Downtown has the older, worn-out stuffy places, and Boulder Highway, with the exception of Sam's Town, has the slow-death low ceiling smoke pits.
Best Odds: A review by Vegas.com found the following:
1. The Strip casinos have the worst machine payouts. Venetian, MGM Grand, Luxor, Mandalay Bay-You name it, they all came in at or near the bottom.
2. Downtown has mid-range payouts, which is disappointing considering that they are dying slowly due to their poor location and older facilities.
3. Boulder Highway, from Downtown to near Boulder City, has better payouts than the other places. Lower overhead and local clientele are obvious reasons.
So what to do? You would like to have a decent chance of winning, but don't want to smell like Humphrey Bogart at the end of the evening. Well, I have some answers:
The survey of slot and poker machines found the following casinos adjacent to the Strip, just off the main drag, are actually the best places for fresher air and better chances of winning. The places are:
3. Gold Coast Casino, located on Flamingo, just West of the Strip. I think it's still a little smokey, but better than most.
2. Texas Station Casino, located West of I-15, near the Strip. There are actually 8 Station Casinos around town, and they all are relatively smoke acceptable, with the exception of the Sports Book areas. Their machines are fairly generous, too.
And the winner is:
1. The Palms Casino. located across from the Gold Coast, on Flamingo Road. The machines are "loose", and the air is clean. It is a winner, and I hope the Maloof Brothers continue to keep it sparkling.
One thought-Sam's Town-out on Boulder Highway-is an acceptable casino, with a strong ventilation system, and decent payouts.
A final thought-I once worked in Atlantic City, and met a person who worked as a carpet layer at the casinos. He said he had all the work he could handle, due to the need to continually replace carpet damaged by people snuffing cigarettes out on the carpet. I asked him-"Why don't they kick those slobs out of the Casino?" His answer-"As long as they're gambling, the Casinos could care less."
So we non-smokers will usually be secondary to the gambling smokers in Las Vegas. But we can still have a good time-if we know where to go.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Singles
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
youngdoog
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Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Retired construction worker
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