Our Recommended choices for caesars

I mentioned recently that Fitzgerald's casino in Downtown Las Vegas was going through a major refurbishing and a name change to The D. Well, fortunes are looking up for the new owners!

I have to admit that on my last trip I stayed down the avenue at the Golden Nugget. But it appears I missed out on $27 room rates Sunday through Thursday. Bummer!

My friend Emma did stay at The D and found the rooms to be clean and nicely furnished, especially for the price. Apparently the room fees included a free breakfast. That's a nice extra.

What we both experienced was a very large crowd in the downtown area Friday and Saturday night. Unlike years ago, Downtown Vegas is now a happening place on weekends. There are live bands, kiosks with souvenirs, margaritas, and lots of twenty-somethings.

Unfortunately, that also means that inside the casinos the music is loud (very) because a heady crowd of young gamblers are there to party. It's kind of like Spring Break with no beach. That's good for the small casinos that need the play.

As a more sedate gambler, I could do without the dancing girls on platforms, but of course I've seen the same thing in a pit outside the poker room at Caesars on the Strip. So, as Emma mentioned, it's not likely to be our first choice to play craps since it's impossible to hear the call of the dice.

One of the things I love about craps is the occasional stick-person who has a personality that completely transforms the game into Craps Land where the calls are colorful, the jokes flow, and the dice run hot. That's a gambler's heaven.

Heck, even choppy dice are tolerable with a good craps crew! So, don't be afraid of the new D. Just be ready to party more than gamble.

Trip Report - The D in Las Vegas originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 at 16:05:07.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Goodbye Amarillo Slim Preston! You will be greatly missed by the poker community.

Amarillo Slim, World famous gambler, 83, died overnight in hospice care in Amarillo. He leaves a legend bigger than Texas when it comes to tall tales and tall mountians of chips he won in poker games, ping pong matches, pool halls and dance halls. The man never met a bet he didn't want to find a way to win. He bet on everything and anything, as told in his memoir, Amarillo Slim In a World of Fat People.

A long-time pool hustler and poker player (who partnered with Sailor Roberts and Doyle Brunson in the 1950's), Slim was well known in the poker world when he won the WSOP Championship in 1972. He wasn't known much beyond the Texas circuit of poker games and Las Vegas, however. But after the championship win, the never-at-a-loss-for-words Preston became a favorite on TV shows after stories of his championship ran in Parade magazine, which was inserted in millions of Sunday newspapers across the country.

Afterwards, Preston was a regular on The Tonight Show and was seen on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, To Tell The Truth and even What's My Line. He was colorful, brash, funny, and a perfect ambassador for the poker world. He will be missed.

This year's WSOP starts on Sunday May 27, 2012 with the $500 entry Casino Employee, No-Limit Hold'em tournament. It's a great kick-off for the summer.

Besides the WSOP, I'll be heading to Lake Tahoe for a few weeks of R&R, and maybe back east for the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival. If you haven't been to Caesars Entertainment's properties during the last week of July to drink down your share of the wine and feast on dozens and dozens of food station goodies, you just don't know what you are missing.

The festival starts July 26.............don't miss out!

Goodbye Amarillo Slim! originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Sunday, April 29th, 2012 at 17:49:45.

Permalink | Comment | Email this