The great Binion's legend from when it was the Horseshoe is long gone, as are the run-down hotel rooms and the once-wonderful coffee shop. Do the shutdown of Binion's organs mean one foot in the grave, or a little snooze before reawakening? We're rooting for the latter.
Table Games: Blackjack, craps, poker, roulette, baccarrat, Pai gow and a few trendy varieties. There is lousy blackjack rules, but healthy 10x odds on craps. Recently, there have been three ladies with large breasts dealing blackjack out in front.
Bet Minimums: Blackjack is mostly $5, but you can sometimes find a seat at a $3 table. Craps is usually $5 (rarely $3). Let It Ride, Pai Gow are $5. Roulette's a $4 minimum with $1 chips. Late at nigh, they have $1 blackjack, but it's a game with terrible, terrible rules.
Machines: Lousy video poker, normal slots, and apparently lots and lots of keno machines.
Cocktails? Good cocktail service, unless it's crowded.
Who Gets Comps? The club is on par with other downtown properties. They will seek you out, though, if you put decent play on your card. Expect to see a few offers in the mail. Also, they will rate you at the tables even if you are only betting $5 a hand.
Binion's Cafe: The former snack bar serves some good burgers and sandwiches. It still looks like a snack bar, and you seat yourself at the counter or little tables, but it has waiters. And it has menus. A plus can be the interesting characters you may meet while eating at the counter.
Ranch Steakhouse: It's pretty hard to get more traditional than this venerable steak house. Big, juicy chops, warm rolls and iceberg-lettuce salads. It's old school and okay, although it was great in its heyday. Still, the view from the dining room on the top floor of the Horseshoe is spectacular at night.
Benny's Bullpen is the sportsbook area and serves up pizzas for dirt cheap.
Million Dollar Display: The old Binion's Horseshoe had a display of 100 rare $10,000 bills that you could be photographed with. Well, lousy Becky Behnen sold those. But the current Binion's owner has a new million-dollar display and you can get a free photo with it. It's not rare bills, but it's still a million bucks. It's a nice, classy touch. They will take your photo with it, or you may take a photo of it. But, you aren't allowed to take a photo of people with it. Don't ask us why.
Number of TVs: Four televisions. One for you, one for a friend, and two for the hookers that came with you.
Number of Seats: Twenty-one chairs, which is one fewer than needed to seat two football teams. There are also four barstools. Chairs have rollers, though, so you can still have a seated game of football (bring your own pigskin). All chairs have individual TVs, which is cool, especially considering there are only four shared ones.
How Many Betting Windows? Five with video monitors behind them displaying the odds on games.
Free Drinks? Sure, if you're one of them high rollers who can afford to wager $20 on a bet.
Snack Bar? There is a great snack bar twenty paces away. Remember that number in case you ever need to write a treasure map that leads to it.
Minimum Wager: $5 sports
Other Notes: The sports book is just where you're supposed to place your bets. you need to go over to Benny's Bullpen, a bar, to watch them in any comfort. It has the liquor, sometimes some table games, and always video poker.
Number of Tables: Ten in the main room and eighteen more in the tournament room. Of all the places taking advantage of the Hold 'Em craze, Binion's is in the lead.
Comfort of Chairs: Okay, as long as you're not a primadonna. The main room is where the old sports book was and is quite nice and the tables and chairs are better. The tournament room is tired and dingy.
Closed Room or Open to Casino? The tournament room is open, but conveniently tucked away in the back corner, so it stays quiet. The new room is closed off and nicer. It is also closer to the rest of the casino.
Game Spreads and Limits: 7-Card Stud $1-$5: Hold-em $2-$4, $3-$6: Omaha occasionally. They have no-limit, and other high-limit games on busy nights.
Beginner Games or Classes? Nope, no lessons. At least, management couldn't remember any when we asked.
How Crowded is the Room? It can get packed. Binion's wants to be famous for poker, so some people want to play here. Weekdays and late at night you're more likely to find a spot easily. The typical wait is 20 minutes to an hour when the room is full.
Comps? Free drinks while playing. Two bucks an hour while you play. That's pretty dang good.
How Good Are the Players? Fair to very good. This ain't a great game for beginners or timid players because there are much weaker games in town. The tournaments are usually 20% decent and 80% lousy, the low limit games are about average.
What Else Do I Need to Know? There are several daily hold 'em tournaments with a range of buy-ins. The max rake on games is $3, and that's swee-eeeet.
|
