The great Binion's of yore 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 is in the grave, or a little snooze before reawakening? We're rooting for the latter.
Coupons Available for Binion's: Double slot club points up to 500, two-for-one hamburgers at the snack bar or deli. (Click Here For More Info.)
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 ladies with large breasts dealing blackjack out in front where passers-by can see them.
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.
Machines: Mediocre 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.
Top of Binions Steakhouse: It's pretty hard to get more traditional than this venerable steak house. Big chops, warm rolls and weak 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 hotel tower 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. 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 Benny's Bullpen right nearby, and that's where you are supposed to go for pizza and cocktails while watching sports.
Minimum Wager: $5 sports
Other Notes: The sports book is just where you're supposed to place your bets.
Number of Tables: Ten in the surprisingly nice poker room. The tables are nothing special, but the room has been done up nicely. There are also 24 tables in a rundown area at the back of the property. These tables are only used for tournaments.
Comfort of Chairs: Okay, as long as you're not a primadonna. The room is where the old sports book was and is quite nice and the tables and chairs are better.
Closed Room or Open to Casino? The room is closed off and fairly quiet. it is also close to the rest of the casino.
Game Spreads and Limits: 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 no-limit games is $3, and that's swee-eeeet.
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