Room Quality: Overall, the Trop seems to be stuck in a long ago time of disco and shag. Some rooms are good, others aren't so great. In order, the Paradise Towers offer the most amenities. They are a good size, have decent furnishings, (a few with mirrors over them), irons and ironing boards, and decent sized bathrooms. You can get a refrigerator, and there are in-room safes. They usually go for premium fee over the Island Tower and the "garden" rooms. The Island Tower is older and more worn than the Paradise Tower -- it looks like the 1979 interpretation of tropical -- but still a fair value. The down side is you have to run the gauntlet of junk salesmen in kiosks to get to them. They have tubs big enough for two people, and mirrors and bamboo. The garden rooms are in motel structures around the pool, and boy are they looking beat down. They have balconies, which is a nice touch if they didn't overlook parking lots. They are the oldest rooms and are close enough to the ground that you hear a lot of cars and buses. The garden rooms tend to be worn down and there is a lot of foot traffic in the hall. The hotel is at one of the better corners in Vegas, and you're walking distance from MGM Grand, Excalibur, Luxor, New York New York and plenty of others.

Service Quality: Fair. The hotel shows its age, and so do some of its employees. The incessant bombardment of people trying to sell you timeshares or magnets or cell phone accessories is tiring and unpleasant.

What You Get Bottles of in the Bathroom: You get shampoo and conditioner, regardless of what part of the hotel you're staying in. So, nobody will be able to sniff you and tell if you are low-rolling or living it up.

Clientele: Not as popular with the jet set as it once was, it mostly draws an older clientele these days. Or families with kids looking for a tropical pool on a budget.

How's the Pool? Old, not well maintained but still sprawling and tropical. The lagoon style, meandering pools are among the first of that style in Vegas. The sprawling pools are linked by narrow waterways. There is a swim-up blackjack table during the summer months. One outdoor pool is heated to 90-degrees in the winter. They also have one pool that is partially indoors, for folks who crave that overpowering chlorine odor.

Table Games: Blackjack, craps, roulette, Let It Ride, Pai Gow, Three Card Poker. The games are pretty good for this area. The casino is sort of small compared to its neighbors, and it can get cramped.

Bet Minimums: $10 at blackjack and craps and some of the oddball card games. The single-deck pays 6:5, so skip it at all bet levels. There are 3x4x5x odds at craps, which is standard. Roulette has $1 chips and a $5 minimum.

Machines: Slots from a nickel on up to $100 in the high-roller area. There is a good selection of video poker, with full-pay in most denominations. You have to seek them out, though, because they have lots of poor-paying machines, too. The Trop has lots of the new video reel games, but if those confuse you like they do us, you'll also find plenty of traditional reel slots to play.

Cocktails? Fair. As we have found in our arduous research, it is a chore to get drunk while playing slots or tables at the Tropicana.

Who Gets Comps? They are pretty good for the neighborhood. If you play $20 and up for a few hours at the tables be sure to ask to be rated beforehand. Of course, you better be nice and make sure the pit boss sees you playing. Rooms can be had for a few hours of $100 a hand play.

Bacio Pasta & Vino: A standard Italian eatery, this place serves up lunch and dinner for a reasonable price.

Garden Cafe: This is an above-average coffee shop with a well-below average name. Prices are fair, and you are getting better quality food, and lots of it. It's open 24 hours and the late night specials are a pretty good deal. One nice touch is the fresh tropical fruit served with sandwiches. It will help clear out the grease that accumulates in the average stomach during a trip to Las Vegas.

Island Buffet: It's not very good, has a small selection and is a little overpriced. The breakfast price is way too high. For the same money, you can do better by walking up the street to the Planet Hollywood. The dinner is always prime rib and shrimp.

Legends Steak and Seafood: If you're in the mood for a fair steak, here's the place. Service is not up to the standard of a gourmet room, but nothing at the Tropicana is.

Mizuno's: It's a Japanese steak house, which means lots of Japanese appetizers like sushi and tempura. But the meats are the big American cuts and include lots of steaks prepared teriyaki style.

Hypnosis Unleashed: The small "cellar" club hosts this raunchy hypnotism show. It seems all hypnotist shows now are geared to be risque and have audience members do embarrassing and naughty things. This one is no different, except that it actually stars two hypnotists instead of one.

Let's Make a Deal: They are taping the corny old game show, now with Wayne Brady playing the role of Monty Hall at the Trop. On the plus sides, tickets are free and contestants come from the audience. On the negative side, did you really come to Vegas to sit in a TV audience? And, you need a costume which they conveniently sell in a shop at the entrance.

Sopranos Last Supper: Dinner and what they call an interactive event featuring mobster-types. You get Italian food and you get a lot of mobster stereotypes playing out a comedy-drama with singing and dancing around you as you eat and drink.

Wayne Newton: Mr. Las Vegas makes what he is hinting are the last Las Vegas appearances of his storied career. It's just too bad his voice left him several years ago. Still, if you want to witness a piece of Vegas past and hear Newton's old stories, this is it.

Xtreme Magic with Dirk Arthur: Monstrous cats and heart-pounding illusions. That's what the Tropicana promises with this show. Thank God, because our friend kept dying during the heart-stopping magic shows of old. Arthur seems to have found his niche doing afternoon magic at the Trop, and he brings his helicopter and cadre of big cats to this show, only to make them disappear. Suitable for the family, provided the kids don't have a phobia about disappearing helicopters.

Number of TVs: Seven, no big screens.

Number of Seats: Just about 25. They aren't reserved, and are as comfortable as the average sports book chair.

How Many Betting Windows? Four, with hand-written boards.

Free Drinks? No.

Snack Bar? No, but there is a little convenience store and deli within a minute's walk.

Minimum Wager: $5

Other Notes: This is a rinky dink Leroy-operated sports-only book in a little room tucked away next to a staircase near the Casino Legends Hall of Fame. It's pretty hidden and pretty quiet since few people seem able to find it. Once we visited, somebody had left a big wet spot on one of the seats, which creeped us out plenty but obviously didn't move the janitorial folks.