Arizona Charlie’s Boulder

Opened in 2001 on Boulder Highway, Arizona Charlie’s Boulder is owned and operated by Golden Entertainment.

The property was originally built by American Casino & Entertainment Properties and sits on land that was formerly known as the Sunrise Hotel. The casino opened and hummed along pretty well, and eventually, all of American Casino and Entertainment Properties was sold, in 2017, to Golden Entertainment. Other Las Vegas area properties involved as part of this sale were Stratosphere (The Strat) and Arizona Charlie’s Decatur.

This would be about an average-sized property if it were in Downtown Las Vegas, with 301 guest rooms and suites as well as 35,000 square feet of gambling space.

As far as the hotel rooms are concerned, they’re clean, but boy oh boy, are they dated. I actually recognize the pictured bedspreads from my time as a hotel manager and I can say, with a high degree of confidence, that they are somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 years old. The most important thing is the cleanliness, of course, and that area is fine…but wow, the furnishings look like those at what would have been considered a low-end economy hotel in 2010.

Of course, they’d have to pour some serious money into a full-scale renovation, and with Covid-19 slowdown not yet fully behind us, that’s probably going to take some time. The most likely scenario is that a major hotel will do an update, at some point, and Arizona Charlie’s will buy their used furniture and bedding…it’s pretty common in the hotel industry for low-end hotels to do that.

Of course, Arizona Charlie’s is not too low end to charge a Resort Fee, at least, they don’t think so…thus, it’s $16.99 per night. In their defense, it includes wireless internet access and the property does have a swimming pool, so you can compare that to some other properties that charge a Resort Fee and don’t even have a pool.

On typical weekdays, room rates will live in the $50-$100 range, before taking into the Resort Fee, and will be mostly predicated upon demand and special events. Weekends are all over the place for standard rooms, as they always are and will usually depend on whether or not anything is going on in town. Some weekends will see rates for these standard rooms in excess of $200, which would be laughable if the rooms were located anywhere other than Las Vegas…we spent three solid years sold out most days of the week…and I don’t think I could have got away with $200 for our best rooms.

If the rates are a little much and you have an RV to travel in, then here’s what they have to say about the RV Park on the property:

Beautifully landscaped and recently renovated, the RV Park at Arizona Charlie’s Boulder is open year round with over 200 spaces, ranging from 30ft. to 70ft., accommodating a variety of motor homes. Our RV park provides all of the comforts of home to nomadic adventurers, including a private deluxe clubhouse with a large screen TV, pool table, fitness equipment, guest laundry facilities, private baths and showers and a dog run. An exciting casino and all its offerings are just steps away, including on-property restaurants, live entertainment and a heated pool and hot tub.

Again, RV Parks are not unusual for casinos that are not directly on the Nevada consists of a metric crapton of empty desert, so there’s plenty of space available out there for the building of RV Parks.

The property has a small entertainment area that features various performers scattered throughout the year. You can check out their website if you want to see if anything is going on in advance of your Vegas visit, though it’s unlikely that you’ll be picking this property for your stay, anyway. If you are going to stay on the Boulder Strip, then chances are that Sam’s Town is your destination.

In of drinking, the property is home to a total of three bars and lounges, though Jake’s Bar closed at some point during the Covid-19 pandemic and has yet to reopen, as of the time of this writing. The expectation is that it will open again at some point in 2022, especially if all of the pandemic-related guidelines are fully behind the Las Vegas area.

According to the property, they are home to some 780 combined slot, video poker and video keno machines that range in denomination from pennies to at least $10 per credit.

The property is home to a Bingo Room with Live Games daily.

Finally, the property is home to a William Hill Sportsbook location that is nicer and more well-appointed than you would probably expect. In there you will find cozy armchairs and several big screen TV’s that surround the entire room. As far as sportsbooks go on the Boulder Strip, it’s not like you’re near a place like Circa, so this is probably going to be one of the nicer ones that are close to you.

Sourdough Cafe is the property’s main Casual American eatery and is open from 6a-Midnight for breakfast, lunch and dinner Sunday-Thursday and stays open 24 hours per day on the weekends. Casual and economical, they have this to say about themselves:

The Sourdough Cafe at Arizona Charlie’s Boulder is home to Las Vegas casual dining at its best. It’s the perfect setting to grab breakfast, lunch, or dinner in between playing your favorite slot machine or bingo. The diverse menu is a definite people-pleaser. Enjoy family-style, oversized portions and other great selections, with some of the best deals in town at this Las Vegas cafe, breakfast specials featuring sirloin steak & eggs or ham-steak & eggs have been voted “Best Breakfast Special” by the Las Vegas Review Journal.

As you would expect, there’s really nothing special about it, but having a sit down restaurant that is open until midnight every day of the week is more than some properties, such as Main Street Station Downtown, can say at this time. Of course, you’re somewhat isolated out here, so most guests of the hotel will probably prefer being able to stay on property to eat.

PT’s Express is a quick sports bar type of environment that mostly focuses on wings, sandwiches, burgers and a wide assortment of traditional American appetizer staples. It’s open during various hours, seven days per week, and is a great place to catch the game if you find yourself staying out here in the first place. The property is also home to a Dunkin’ Donuts location, so you know the drill, donuts and specialty coffee drinks.

Overall, we would say that Arizona Charlie’s Boulder just is what it is. Mostly, this is a t that is frequented by locals and ers-through the area who are trying to avoid areas such as The Strip and Downtown, not because they are staying here with the intent of visiting those locales. Deuces Wild.

For that reason, it sometimes works the opposite way…some people staying at The Strip or Downtown may sometimes drive to this location in order to play Video Poker!

Barley’s Casino and Brewing Company

The first thing that we should say about Barley’s, for short, is that you could make the case that it should be in our Henderson, rather than Boulder Strip, listings, but we’re going to call this place close enough.

This is a small casino property that is not home to a hotel. This property is known for having award-winning microbrews and a wide variety of other beer selections on tap for its guests. It is owned and operated by Station Casinos and is part of the rewards program for same.

In addition to the casino floor that consists of a combined 191 slot, video poker and video keno games, the property is home to a sizable bowling alley that consists of sixteen lanes and is a pure joy for Las Vegas locals. The video poker isn’t bad, especially considering how small the property is, and according to VPFree2 has at least two paytables that return 98%, or better.

The property has a bigger sportsbook than you might expect and consists of the betting station, some comfortable lounging chairs and fourteen high-definition TV’s adorning the area. It’s a good place to go to bet and play sports at the same time, at least, if you enjoy bowling.

Brewer’s Cafe is the property’s Casual American restaurant and serves up decent food at even better prices. In addition, Wild Grill is located at Wildfire Lanes and features some sandwiches and your usual snack stand staples that you would expect at a bowling alley.

For those of you coming from out of town, we would recommend this property if you’re interested in what locals to Las Vegas do, but otherwise, we don’t see much of a reason to come here. For starters, the Video Poker is just okay, especially when compared to a few other Boulder Strip casinos. If you’re looking for something closer to a Las Vegas Strip experience, and also to bowl, then you would want to check out something like South Point. Still, this fun place is worth a visit if you happen to be out that way anyhow.

Boulder Station Hotel and Casino

Boulder Station Hotel and Casino, as you would expect, is located on the Boulder Strip and is owned and operated by Station Casinos. This property originally opened for business in August of 1994 and, at nearly 90,000 square feet of gambling space, is one of the largest casino floors that you’re going to find out this way. In addition to the sizable casino floor, it is home to one hotel tower that has a room and suite count of 300.

In addition to the casino itself, the property is well-known for its Railhead concert venue, which typically features a wide variety of country music and blues acts. While it mainly serves as a locals place during the week, it will sometimes draw in visitors from out of state if they are interested in one of the musical performances taking place, of course, the room rates also tend to go up when that happens.

Other offerings include a movie theater with eleven screens and an arcade, so this is often a popular spot for families doing cross-country traveling on a budget. As you would expect for such a large Boulder Strip location, it’s also home to an RV Park.

The property has always been owned by Station Casinos and has seen several upgrades and renovations over the years. One of the more recent ones was in 2008, leading up to the Great Recession (though nobody knew the full scope of how bad that would be) when they spent fifty million dollars to renovate the hotel, update other casino areas and add a bingo room in order to compete with the newly-opened Eastside Cannery, which at the time, was owned by Cannery Casino Resorts.

It’s also one of the oldest StationCasino properties, the second oldest, in fact, with only Palace Station having been around longer.

Weekday rates for standard rooms can run anywhere from the $50-range (slow days) all the way into the mid $100’s depending on what’s going on in the area and if they have any concert events scheduled. Additionally, there is a Resort Fee of $28.24 (including tax) per night, but that is somewhat less ridiculous than some other Resort Fees in town compared to what you get.

The rooms themselves are becoming a bit dated, at this point, but not nearly as much so as those at Arizona Charlie’s Boulder. Even with that, they are fairly basic, but clean. They could probably be most closely compared to one of the better economy chain hotels in of their offerings, furnishings, decor and amenities. They’re not bad is what we are saying.

Weekend rates, naturally, can be all over the place and sometimes depends on what special events are going on in the Las Vegas area. Don’t be surprised if the rates are in the mid-$200’s if you have picked the wrong weekend (price-wise) to travel to the Boulder Strip. You can also expect for prices to be higher if there is a concert event at the property during the date of your stay. Guests will enjoy access to wireless internet as well as access to the property’s outdoor pool, and again, even having their own pool is something that certain other properties that charge similar Resort Fees cannot even say, so there’s that.

Boulder Station features musical performances in addition to those at its main concert venue, of course, with Kixx Bar often featuring live entertainment on most weekends. You can check their website here for a schedule of what’s coming up near your stay.

In addition to the concerts, the property is home to both a Cyber Quest (large arcade) and a Kids Quest, which will even keep an eye on your little ones if you want to go off to do more adult things for a bit, or just if you want to have a sit-down meal without the kids tagging along. Again, this is one of the Las Vegas properties that is intended for visitors of all ages.

Here’s what the property has to say about its Railhead concert venue:

From Latin nights to rock tribute bands, you’ll find an array of incredible Las Vegas live music offerings at Railhead, our famed in-house venue where some of the biggest names in the business got their start. Know that, no matter where you sit in this intimate & iconic showroom, you’re guaranteed an incredible seat.

Boulder Station is the best concert venue in Las Vegas, having recently won the Academy of Country Music’s “Casino of the Year” award three times! Our intimate concert venue, the Railhead, regularly brings you the biggest musicians from jazz, blues, country and rock, serving up some of the most exciting shows and live music in Las Vegas.

So, that’s going to be the main mechanism by which people from out of the area are drawn to the casino. If you want to plan your stay around seeing some of your favorite musical artists, then you should take a look at the events to see who’s playing.

Finally, the Regal Cinemas are still going strong at this property, so you might decide to take the kids to enjoy a movie at this eleven screen movie theater.

In of the casino action, the property is home to a total of more than 2,400 combined slots, video poker and video keno machines—of which they are proud to that more than 100 are Video Poker.

The property is home to a plethora of Video Poker machines that return 99%, or more, on their paytables. In addition to these, they have a handful of games that return in excess of 100%, so you would almost have to be trying to find a bad Video Poker paytable. In addition to the music scene, much like Arizona Charlie’s, if you’re coming here at all and are from out of state, then it’s probably for the video poker. We can at least recommend coming in and checking the place out if that’s your game, but you’ll probably want to find a better bargain for rooms elsewhere (unless it’s a weekday) until you can get comped.

The property is also home to what might be the largest race and sports book that you are going to find outside of the Las Vegas Strip or Circa, Downtown. They used to be able to make the claim of being the largest anywhere outside of The Strip, but Circa Resort and Casino came along and took that title away from them, pretty easily, in fact. Still, if your main games are Video Poker and sports betting, then you’ll be more than happy with what this book has to offer.

Boulder Station is also a popular spot for Bingo players in that it is contained in a sizable area with some 400 seats available for players. Naturally, savvy Bingo players will want to compare jackpots before deciding where to play their sessions that day.

In of Table Game offerings, this casino features the staple games of Pai Gow Poker and Mini-Baccarat. In addition, the property is home to a small poker room and is a good place for you if you want to meet some Vegas locals.

In of dining, Boulder Station is home to a fine-dining steakhouse called The Broiler, which has this to say:

When it comes to Las Vegas steakhouses, The Broiler is in a league of its own. With aged beef selections cooked over a woodfire grill, fresh fish flown in daily, and an extensive wine menu, locals often call The Broiler the best steakhouse in Las Vegas.

Our menu isn’t the only thing that’s acclaimed—with tufted leather booths, warm crimson hues, and a live chef viewing area, our stunning old-Vegas aesthetic will take you back in time to a world where good times were guaranteed.

I’m not so confident that it is the best steakhouse in all of Las Vegas, but if you have been there and it is, in your opinion, then I would certainly love to hear all about your experience. What I can say is that the ambiance of the place is definitely a throwback to old Vegas, as this place looks like an elegant dinner club from the 1940’s-1950’s, so you definitely can’t go wrong with the aesthetic.

The Grand Cafe is a 24/7 stop for Casual American food and an extensive breakfast and late-night menu that is your place to go to eat at an economical price no matter what time it says on the clock. Styled like an old school 1950’s diner, this will also be one where taking your kids to a sit-down dinner is certainly not going to break the bank by any stretch of the imagination.

Bright, colorful, fresh and delicious are all words that can be used to describe Boulder Station’s Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant. The property has this to say about the facility:

With both timeless favorites and fresh new dishes, Guadalajara serves up an authentic taste of Mexico from right here in Sin City. Our mouthwatering appetizers are the perfect way to kick off an incredible meal. With soccer viewing parties, friendly service, and a lively atmosphere, it’s no wonder locals call this Las Vegas Mexican restaurant their home away from home.

Either way, so far, you have a steakhouse, an old school diner and a place with great Mexican food. That’s more than some of the properties Downtown have to offer in of dining selection.

Slices Pizzeria is open most hours of the day, seven days per week and is your spot to stop and grab, well, a slice. If you need a bit more than that to get your fill, don’t worry, you can get a whole pizza made to order. This place is about as wallet-friendly as you would expect a casino pizza place to be.

The food court consists of Burger King, Starbucks, Subway and Winchell’s (donuts and pastries). The first three are American fast food staples, of course, but if you’re hungry and want something quick, they’ll get the job done. If you’re there with the kids and want to save a little money compared to a sit-down restaurant, then the food court is good for that, too.

Overall, we think this property is one that should be considered for a visit from avid video poker players, sports bettors and those who are traveling to the Las Vegas area with family and, for whatever reason, would prefer not to stay on the Las Vegas Strip or Downtown. What we will say is that you will want to pay close attention to the room rates to plan your trip around maximizing value, as the rates will vary significantly both by what is going on in the general Las Vegas area, and also, what may be going on at the Boulder Station property, specifically.

In any event, it’s pretty ideal if you are traveling with family given that it is home to an arcade, kids area, outdoor pool and movie theater. If you want to take the kids bowling and have wheels, then you’ll also be glad to know that you’re not far away from properties with bowling alleys. If you’re even considering this place and are from out of state, then it’s probably for one of those specific reasons, or you’re interested in seeing a performer who is playing at the Railhead venue.

Eastside Cannery

The Eastside Cannery is a casino hotel that is geared mainly towards locals and was opened in August of 2008 by a company called Cannery Casino Resorts. That company would eventually sell its three casino properties, Eastside Cannery, Cannery (North Las Vegas) and The Meadows (Washington, Pennsylvania) with the former two going to Boyd Gaming and the latter being sold to Penn National Gaming.

As it sits now, Eastside Cannery is home to 307 guest rooms and suites and some 35,000 square feet of gambling real estate, which would make it about average by Downtown standards (if it were Downtown) and the casino floor actually seems much bigger because the property always did a great job with spacing and leaving guests plenty of room to get around. As with Cannery North Las Vegas, the property was built to have an industrial theme to it.

For some of you old-schoolers to the Boulder Strip wondering why there isn’t a Nevada Palace listed, that’s because this is it. However, Eastside Cannery is technically a totally new property as they tore the old one down in sections, enabling them to mostly operate during the time that the new facilities were being built around the old place.

At its peak, the property was home to more than 2,000 combined slot, video poker and video keno machines as well as more than two dozen gaming tables.

Unfortunately, Boyd Gaming closed the hotel aspect of operations during Covid-19 and it has since been announced that the change would be permanent.

When under the ownership of Cannery Casino Resorts, Eastside Cannery marketing and offered potential guests value in a way that was well ahead of its time. On their websites, they had little trivia games and other games by which guests could daily, collect points, and print out vouchers to take to the property for free prizes. I was able to get a pretty decent amount in free play and some free buffets and drinks at Eastside Cannery as well as a substantial room discount and more of the same other stuff at Cannery.

If we had to venture a guess why Boyd Gaming would close the property’s hotel operations, then our guess would be that they also own Sam’s Town, which is located right next door, and figured that they were artificially adding to the Boulder Strip hotel room count and, essentially, self-competing for guests who want to stay at that end of the Boulder Strip. As a theory, that might seem to be a bit cynical, but it’s honestly the most likely case.

In addition, the rest of the property is also closed as of the time of this writing, having not reopened after Covid-19, but it is possible that the casino floor will open again one day. If not, then we would venture to guess that Boyd Gaming bought it from Cannery Casino Resorts to eliminate the competition and decided that they no longer have any real interest in the property itself.

The funny thing is, if you visit their website, you might get the impression that at least the casino is open until you navigate to certain pages. You can even go on there and start the process of booking a stay for a hotel that doesn’t exist, so we don’t understand why they wouldn’t just temporarily have a single page saying that the property is closed at this time, or if you are going to leave everything up, at least have the booking link redirect web traffic to the Sam’s Town website.

When it comes to the property being closed, when you can find that information, it also links to a statement that says it is closed under the Governor’s orders, though that stopped being the case more than a year ago.

While it looks like the hotel is never coming back, we certainly hope that demand will come back enough in 2022 that the Eastside Cannery Casino floor opens, as well as some of the restaurants. Having been built in 2008, it’s still a relatively new property, so this just seems like a total waste of what was once a fantastic place for value-oriented gamblers.

ElDorado Casino (The Casino)

Most people who have been to Las Vegas before would probably be looking for a listing for ElDorado Casino, so that’s why we are doing it this way. This small casino was recently purchased from Boyd Gaming, just in 2020, in fact, so as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, most people aren’t even going to know that it has changed ownership and branding.

This property originally opened in February of 1961 and is home to a little over 17,000 square feet of gambling real estate. While it’s not exactly on the Boulder Strip, it’s close enough that we’re going to throw it here rather than in the Henderson listing.

This property would originally open as The Wheel Casino, but it must have come up red, because the property would close less than a year after it had opened. Bill Boyd was instrumental in negotiating the purchase of the property and received a percentage of it in exchange for his efforts.

It would reopen and rebrand as Eldorado Casino, with Boyd taking full ownership of it just a few years later. Boyd Gaming would itself acquire the casino in 1993 and would continue to own it until 2020. The casino would close as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and by December of 2020, Boyd Gaming had no real plans to open it back up and didn’t feel like the demand would come back to justify its reopening. As a result, they would sell it to DeSimone Gaming, an entity that also owns Boulder Strip’s (but way out there by itself) Railroad Hotel and Casino.

The parent company would pump several million into their new acquisition and even have plans to build a hotel on the property within the next couple of years. It’ll be interesting to see if that happens and what sort of room count that they will go for, but we would expect it to end up being a boutique hotel.

The property features more than 350 combined video keno units ranging from pennies to $5 per credit. The property is also home to a few gaming tables and spreads Blackjack, Craps and Roulette during most hours of operation. Finally, the is home to a small sportsbook that is under the Circa Sports umbrella, which is an interesting partnership.

The Silver Bar is the property’s lounge while the Bar is the sports bar that is located near the Sports Book and has some bartop video poker units. The property is home to two eateries, with the casual American eatery being the 24/7 Emilia’s Cafe and the more upscale (but nor pricey) Italian restaurant being Ristorante Italiano.

The property, as of the time of this writing, is home to two Video Poker paytables that pay right around 99% return, so you can do worse.

As it stands now, The is mostly going to be a hangout for Vegas locals and perhaps some Boulder Strip major casino employees in their off time to wind down before heading home. The hotel, similarly, will probably be geared mostly towards local guests who want to come and drink a few without having to drive home, or at best, will attract people from the nearby area. As with Railroad , we would expect an emphasis to be put on being a fun place with happy customer service representatives that mostly caters to people who just want to hang out for a bit.

Gold Rush Casino (Wildfire Sunset)

Wildfire Sunset is the new name of the former Gold Rush Casino and is a small locals-type property located near the Boulder Strip and is owned and operated by Station Casinos.

Here is how the property describes the casino floor:

With over 123 of the latest Las Vegas slots and video poker machines—plus all of your favorite penny games—you’ll love the convenient local gaming experience Wildfire Sunset offers. Swing by for all of the variety you’re seeking, without the hassle or high prices of large casinos.

What on Earth does, “Over 123,” mean? So…124 total machines? I don’t know and I’m not going to count them. They have machines and we’re just going to say somewhere in the range of 100-150, that should about cover it. A few of these machines are Video Poker and, last we checked, there are two games at 98.91% return, or better.

The property is also home to a small sports book, but if you’re here, it’ll get the job done. This is mostly a locals casino anyway and is not home to a hotel.

This location is home to a small 24/7 eatery called Wild Grill Sunset that is a casual American place focusing on sandwiches, sides, appetizers and breakfast food. As you would expect, it is very cheaply priced. Basically, this casino, Barley’s and a Days Inn are all in the same little area and are essentially indistinguishable from one another unless you go there a lot.

Which you probably won’t, unless you just want to see what it is like to hang out with some Las Vegas Locals, because that’s mostly who you are going to find there. There’s nothing wrong with the place, of course, there’s just no reason other than that for someone out of the area to want to visit.

Green Valley Ranch

Located on Paseo Verde Parkway, Green Valley Ranch is a positively huge luxury property that was built to be a high-end place for Las Vegas area locals to visit, but because of all of its amenities, it often attracts visitors from out of the area who want to visit Downtown or the Las Vegas Strip, but would prefer to spend the overnight hours away from all of that noise.

Having opened in December of 2001, this property consists of 495 guest rooms and 143,891 square feet of gambling space which, believe it or not, makes it one of the biggest casino floors in the Las Vegas area, especially if you only count casinos away from the Las Vegas Strip.

If we had to compare this property to anything, then we would say that it’s an even more upscale version of the South Point Casino, which is located South of the main Las Vegas Strip, but still on Las Vegas Boulevard.

There’s really not much to discuss in the way of ownership history as it was the company, Station Casinos, that built this location and that still owns the property to this day.

The property looks like Victorian meets Castle meets Italian Villa, if that makes any sense and guests of the property will enjoy access to one of the most charming (but not small) outdoor pools that Las Vegas has to offer. Guests will also have access to a modern and naturally-lit fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment. For additional charges, the property is home to a modern Spa and Salon that offers a full array of services for those of you out there who are looking to be pampered a bit.

Rates are…not cheap. Guests of this property can expect to pay well over $200/night, even for the closest thing to standard rooms that the property has to offer, on slower weekdays. When it comes to weekend rates, depending on what’s going on in town, they can be as high as $500/night, and probably sometimes more. When it comes to drawing people to the property who are looking for weekday value during the slower demand season, Green Valley Ranch simply has no interest in them being there.

If that’s not expensive enough for your liking, don’t worry, there is an after-tax Resort Fee of $44.46 per night, because apparently they need to offset how cheap their rooms are.

If any of you out there really hate money, then you should look into the Villa Two Bedroom King Suite. I picked random dates for a five-night stay and it looks like it could be all mine for the low price of over $25,000, after tax. I don’t care how much money a person has, I have no idea what would cause someone to believe that a five-night stay…and I don’t care what the suite includes…could ever be worth that obscene sum of money. Readers in the United States could probably take an entire vacation, all expenses included, to Europe for less than that.

We should point out that Green Valley Ranch is a great place for a family vacation, or Staycation, if you’ve got the green to spend. In addition to the amenities we have already mentioned, the property is also home to a CyberQuest arcade as well as a Kids Quest.

The Grand Events Center is a 2,000 seat concert venue on the property that sporadically has acts coming in around the calendar. You can check out their website for more information on what’s coming up, but we should point out that these mostly consists of tribute acts, so don’t expect to see many currently relevant national performers here.

The Green Valley Ranch’s expansive casino floor is home to more than 2,500 combined slot, video poker and video keno devices with a wide range of denominations from pennies onward. For those of you who read about the hotel rates, then you’ll already know that there are plenty of high-limit slot and video poker games. As with most major Station Casinos locations, the property is home to any number of video poker machines with paytables that return in excess of 99%, as well as several units that payback more than 100%, so this is a sophisticated and relatively new place to visit for a great playing environment, even if you don’t want to shell out the bucks to stay there.

There’s a somewhat small Table Games pit, at least relative to the size of the overall casino floor, that features Blackjack, Craps, Roulette and Pai Gow Poker.

The property is home to one of the larger sportsbooks that you will find on or near the Boulder Strip, with dozens of individual viewing areas as well as several big screen TV’s surrounding the main viewing area.

The property is also home to a mid-sized Bingo room that features daily sessions, but is very elegantly appointed and is enjoyed by many Vegas locals and out of the area visitors alike.

The Keno Lounge is a somewhat small affair, consisting of seating for only twenty, but it’s there and drawings run daily. You can either hang out and view the action, or load up on tickets several drawings ahead. You can also follow the drawing results on their website, which is always pretty cool for live Keno players.

Hank’s Fine Steaks and Martinis is the property’s upscale steakhouse and is elegantly, but modernly, appointed with some nods to the gambling scene. Guests at this eatery, which is open for dinner service seven evening a week, will enjoy the finest selections of Wagyu Beef and other dishes with a very contemporary presentation that will please the nose, mouth and the eyes! The property has this to say about its signature restaurant:

Four-diamond-awarded and coveted by locals and visitors alike, Hank’s fine dining steakhouse serves up an array of USDA Prime dry and wet aged beef cuts, wagyu, an exceptional selection of the city’s freshest seafood, and sides you won’t soon forget—all amongst a setting that’s as stunning as they come.

Hank’s is proud to be the exclusive steakhouse in Henderson providing the kobe experience and is the only restaurant in Henderson and one of 7 in NV to offer Certified A-5 Kobe Beef.

As you can see, only the most excellent of selection which is befitting this most elegant (and pricey) property. However, it bears repeating that the gambling offerings here are ample and very customer-friendly, so even if you don’t want to spend what it takes to stay at GVR, you’ll at least want to leave room in your budget to eat here once in a while if you are a local. For those out of state visitors, this is one to consider even if you are not staying at GVR.

Lucky Penny is their casual American sit-down restaurant that is open 24 hours per day and has a most delectable prime rib that they serve up on certain days and times. This restaurant is definitely affordable as GVR recognizes that not all of their guests will have come for the pricey overnight accommodations or other amenities, and are mainly just there to gamble, eat and drink.

The Bake Shop is the place to go for made from scratch cakes, customized cakes and other baked goods and pastries.

Borracha has some fresh and vibrant offerings and is the property’s Mexican Cantina. Whether you’re there for margaritas, sunrises or just want some delicious and fresh tacos, this eatery has you covered during dinner service seven nights per week and serves lunch on weekends.

Bottiglia is a brightly-lit and extremely reasonably priced Italian restaurant relative to what you are getting for your buck. Especially considering the overall quality of this casino property, this eatery is a true value and has this to say about itself:

Bottiglia Cucina & Enoteca offers fresh, Tuscan-inspired dishes in a setting as bright as the flavors it serves up. With approachable Italian fare and a robust wine list featuring rare vino from around the world, this lively Italian restaurant offers plates both earthy and elevated—all amongst an incredible atmosphere.

This is one that we would definitely recommend trying out if you happen to get hungry while playing some of the GVR’s excellent video poker paytables.

Tides Oyster Bar…do I really need to say anything else? This place has freshly shucked oysters for your enjoyment and is open for dinner service seven nights per week. We’re sure that there are other items on the menu too, but, why?

Finally, open for lunch and dinner seven days per week, Green Valley Ranch is home to one of Las Vegas’ Pizza Rock locations.

If you really don’t mind dropping some money on overnight accommodations and are looking for a property that has every bit the fine quality of the upscale Las Vegas Strip Resorts, as well as comparable dining options, then look no further than the Green Valley Ranch. If you want something basically similar, but not quite as upscale, then South Point will be your place. In either case, both of these are great home bases for those of you going to the Las Vegas area and mostly want to tour the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown by day whilst having somewhere relatively quiet to come back to at night.

It’s also a great place for Las Vegas Locals and out of towners (especially those who love Video Poker) to come in just to play and eat, even if they aren’t staying. If you’ve got transportation during your Las Vegas stay, then you should make it a point to come check the place out, just don’t blame me if you fall in love with it and decide to carve out room in your travel budget to stay here next time you’re in town! If you do, you might not end up leaving this resort!

Jokers Wild Casino

Jokers Wild Casino is a small locals casino located on North Boulder Highway and is a popular spot amongst Las Vegas Locals. It opened in 1990 as Cattle Baron Casino, but would close three short years later, be purchased by Boyd Gaming, and reopen as Jokers Wild.

The property is home to the Troubadour Lounge, which closed during Covid-19 and has yet to reopen. It’s also home to a video game and pinball arcade, but that closed as a result of Covid-19 and has yet to reopen.

The property is home to roughly 400 combined slot, video poker and video keno games. According to VPFRee2.com, they have a handful of Video Poker games that pay more than 99%. The casino would usually have a very small (and low minimum bet!) Table Games pit, but that was closed during Covid-19 and we called and spoke with Sarah as of October 2021, and she said that staff has received no guidance on whether or not that would ever be coming back.

Beyond that, the property is home to a very small sportsbook that, as of the time of this writing, is open during the morning and afternoon hours Thursday-Monday…that sure doesn’t seem convenient.

The Court Cafe serves traditional American food and is causally priced; it is open for lunch and dinner. The property’s other eatery is called The Deli, which is open 24/7 and is not really a deli. It mostly serves finger foods and other snack type foods and appetizers.

Overall, there’s really no reason to come here unless you want to meet some Las Vegas locals and probably some employees of major casinos who just got off work. The Video Poker offerings are not particularly strong when compared to other Boulder Strip properties, and the main draw, the cheap Table Games are closed of the time of this writing with future plans for them unknown.

Klondike Sunset Casino

The Klondike Sunset Casino is a property that originally opened as Tom’s Sunset Casino in August of 1989 and is located on the Boulder Strip. This casino is a small locals affair that consists of 7,700 square feet of total gambling real estate.

The casino would exist for almost ten years, but would close in the face of new casino properties being built in the Boulder Strip area. Seeing potential, John Woodrum would purchase and rename the casino in 1999, just one year after it had originally closed. He owned the Klondike Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, hence changing the name of this property to Klondike Sunset.

Woodrum didn’t necessarily need the property to do anything more than come close to breakeven as he used it as something of a training ground for new staff who could eventually move to the Klondike on the Strip.

Woodrum would on in 2014 and the first new buyer of the casino couldn’t secure the financing for the renovations that he had in mind. With that, a partnership of Burce Famillian and Jon Athey would purchase the small casino property the following year and reopen it in August of 2016. They decided to retain the Klondike Sunset name.

The Klondike Sunset Casino floor features in the neighborhood of 200 combined slot, video poker and video keno games, with several video poker machines having paytables that are north of 99%, which is pretty standard for the Boulder Strip. The property is also home to a modest William Hill Sportsbook location.

The property is also home to one eatery, the Klondike Grill, which is open from the early morning to late evening hours and is a casual American diner type of restaurant.

Basically, this is another place where you might want to go if you want to hang out with some Las Vegas locals and get an idea of the sorts of places they enjoy spending their free time. It’s not a bad little property.

Longhorn Casino

The Longhorn Casino and Hotel is located on the Boulder Strip across the highway from Eastside Cannery and Sam’s Town. The small casino property originally opened in 1987 and is home to a 150 room hotel that used to be a Super 8 as well as just under 4,800 square feet of gambling space.

The Longhorn Casino has this to say about their accommodations:

Conveniently located on the Boulder Strip, our rooms feature amenities that will sur your expectations in of comfort and hospitality. Each room boasts two double beds, a flat screen TV, and a refrigerator, so all of your bases are covered. Additionally, all of our guests enjoy free local calls and high speed Wi-Fi to stay connected.

Upon check-in, you’ll receive a Longhorn Gift Pack a ($24.00 value), which includes a free drink, 2400 points for ing the club, $2.00 off your restaurant bill of $10.00 or more and $5.00 slot machine match play to get your winning streak started at our casino. You will also get to spin our digital wheel for a guaranteed prize!

We would recommend not getting too excited about that coupon book as this property also charges a Resort Fee of $10.16/night. There’s also an additional charge on top of that if you want, “Enhanced,” wireless internet.

There are no words to describe how ridiculous this Resort Fee is, despite the fact that we otherwise love this little casino. That said, it’s a little sawdust t with a cheap restaurant, if this casino is what es for a resort, then my bathroom es for a resort and I live in a modest apartment.

At least the rooms are cheap, with weekday rates typically being under $50 (not counting the Resort Fee) and weekend rates typically coming in just under $100, unless there is a special event that happens to be going on that weekend or its the busy part of the demand season.

This is kind of the cheap place to stay if you want to visit Sam’s Town or one of the Station Casinos properties and you don’t have any comps available. Many guests who will stay out this way are going to be people who are in the Boulder Highway area for the excellent Video Poker paytables as there are several 99%+ machines at most of the casinos out that way.

Oh well, everyone’s doing it. Still, it’s funny that some of the Downtown Las Vegas properties come out cheaper than this one, even with the Resort Fee sometimes.

Longhorn is home to one eatery called the ChuckWagon Restaurant, which features an American menu and is one of the cheapest places in all of Las Vegas for decent eats. Some of the dishes, especially considering the price, are surprisingly good! In addition to a couple hundred combined slot, video poker and video keno machines, the property is home to a really small William Hill Sportsbook.

The Video Poker is not great with 98.91% Deuces Wild being the only paytable significantly over 98%, but still, that would be pretty darn good in some other areas of the country! They are also home to three Blackjack Tables which have a unique rule that allows players to take a Double Down on any number of cards. It doesn’t come up often, but it’s definitely fun when it does.

I’ve spent some time at this dimly lit sawdust t and I will definitely be back one day. It’s probably one of the only places in the world where I enjoy playing Blackjack and mostly only because of the casino’s unique rule on Doubling Down.

Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall

Opened on the Boulder Strip in April of 1979, Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall was one of the properties instrumental to drawing some attention to this Off-Strip section of town. The property was originally opened with an old west theme and doesn’t really have that so much anymore, in my opinion. If there’s one thing that sticks out about the property, to me, it’s the large atrium in the center of the place.

The property is home to 120,681 square feet of gambling real estate, which means that the gambling space would rival that of even some of the bigger casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. Additionally, the property is home to a total of 646 combined guest rooms and suites.

Sam’s Town is owned by Boyd Gambling and is part of the B Connected players club program. Their most recent major competition was that of Eastside Cannery (at least, geographically speaking), but Boyd Gaming bought out Cannery Casino Resorts, Eastside Cannery closed during Covid-19 and it is unknown whether or not the property will reopen. Boyd Gaming has indicated that it’s possible as long as there is sufficient demand on the Boulder Strip.

This is also a property that seeks to attract family travelers and guests touring the country by RV. In addition to the RV Park, there are plenty of amenities for kids, which includes a movie theater and a bowling alley. This is a popular destination for Vegas locals, but also draws a great many people from outside of the area who want to go Downtown or the Las Vegas Strip by day, but want somewhere a little quieter to be at night. This property is also home to an outdoor pool for those of you looking to swim as part of the Mystic Falls Park. If that’s not enough, the property is also home to an arcade.

In of rates on standard rooms, guests can expect to pay between $50-$100 (not including the Resort Fee) during the slower times of the year, on weekdays. That’s pretty much going to be the weekday range as long as there are not special events going on. When it comes to the weekends, anything can happen, but you should expect to pay in the neighborhood of $150/night even if nothing special is going on in the area. If there is a special event on the weekend, then the rates are anyone’s guess.

As we mentioned, there is a Resort Fee of $25.98/night for this property, which is objectively terrible, but we have to it that they’ve got more on offer than properties that charge similar Resort Fees. In fact, they have a lower Resort Fee than Boyd Gaming owned Main Street Station, even though Main Street Station has very close to nothing to offer guests in of facilities and amenities.

The most annoying thing about the Boyd Gaming properties, at least as far as their websites go, is that they have a final price on the rooms that doesn’t include the Resort Fee when you go to book. In fairness, the Resort Fee can be found elsewhere AND there’s verbiage that says the Resort Fee will be added at the time of check in, but we still find this to be at least a little bit deceptive. Other Las Vegas properties will just show guests what they can expect their itemized final bills to look like.

Sam’s Town also attracts plenty of events to its property that can be found either at Roxy’s Bar or at the Sam’s Town Live venue. For the year 2021, they are actually hosting Impact Wrestling a bunch of times, so if you’re a fan of that national professional wrestling promotion, you know where to go.

In addition to the other amenities that we listed, adult guests will be likely to enjoy a visit to Gatsby’s Salon and may want to get a workout in at the modern and sizable fitness center.

That covers it for the hotel side of the property, so let’s get into the gambling offerings to be had at this monolithic casino floor. This casino floor is home to nearly 2,000 combined slot, video poker and video keno games ranging in denomination from pennies to $5. One of the best things about Boyd Gaming is online casino.

Sam’s Town is also a Video Poker player’s paradise with any number of games at more than 99% Return-to-Player and about five different paytables that sit at over 100% RTP. Great video poker is pretty much what the Boulder Strip has become known for, at this point, and Sam’s Town is no exception.

The property is home to a sizable Table Games area that spreads Blackjack, Pai Gow Poker, Deuces Wild (Table Game), Three-Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Roulette and Craps. If you like to load up on odds, then Sam’s Town is one of the best places to roll the bones in Las Vegas as, as of the time of this writing, they allow for up to 20x odds behind the line. Of course, not all of the carnival games are going to operate 24/7, so you might want to call ahead for the usual days/times of operation if you are looking for a specific one of those.

Normally, the Poker Room at Sam’s Town would open at 9:00 a.m. and is home to Limit and No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em Games and daily tournaments. However, their Poker Room would close during the Covid-19 pandemic, and apparently, Sam’s Town doesn’t think that demand has come back enough to justify reopening it yet. If you’re a poker player looking to travel to Las Vegas and are thinking about Sam’s Town, then you might want to check their website to see if this has changed…or maybe just call…it seems like they don’t always to a great job of keeping their website listings up to date.

Sam’s Town is home to a Bingo parlor on the second level which is smaller than many others in the Las Vegas area, but it’ll certainly get the job done. They have a handful of sessions every day, so we would recommend checking their website, or calling for more details, if you are a Bingo aficionado.

Sam’s Town would normally be home to Live Keno drawings, however, that area would close during the Covid-19 pandemic and Sam’s apparently thinks the demand will not be sufficient to bring it back just yet. As of the time of this writing, the expectation is that it will return when the pandemic is behind us and demand picks back up, so all we can say is check their website in advance of your trip if that’s going to be important to you.

Finally, the property is home to a very sizable Race and Sportsbook that itself has sixty big screen TV’s all over the place and more than ample seating for those who want to put their bets down and watch the game in comfort. Cocktail service is both free and fast.

Sam’s Town is home to a wide variety of eateries, technically, but most of those are in the Food Court. In the next paragraph, we will list all of their quick food court eats:

McDonald’s, Sports Deli (fast sandwiches), Panda Express, Subway, Calamity Jane’s (ice cream), Dunkin’ Donuts, Roberto’s Taco Shop and the Bowling Alley Snack Bar. Of course, those of you traveling with kids might not want to drop the buck ata sit down restaurant for every single meal of the day, so chances are, you’ll find yourself in the food court on quite a few occasions.

The Angry Butcher is an upscale casual steakhouse that is very simply, but neatly, appointed and is open for dinner service seven nights per week. Guests can expect a delicious and very budget-friendly experience compared to other Las Vegas area steakhouses, so it’s really tough to go wrong with this one if you are staying on the property anyway.

TGI Friday’s is a, “Popular,” national chain of sports bar type restaurants and serves mediocre Casual American food. We should probably say mediocre, at best, as this restaurant is not typically highly regarded. Either way, it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days per week and is one of the property’s only two sit-down restaurants, so there you go. If you’re staying at Sam’s Town and want to eat some American food, we would honestly recommend crossing the street and checking out the Chuckwagon over at Longhorn.

Overall, we don’t think Sam’s Town is going to be your best value for overnight accommodations, at least, not from the standpoint of pure price. They’d probably be forced to be a little cheaper if Eastside Cannery were still open and, you know, not also owned by Boyd Gaming. However, we have to it that the property has a ton to offer, especially if you are traveling either by RV or are traveling with family as there will be plenty for the kids to do, as well as the adults, of course.

It’s a pretty terrific place for Video Poker players, however, but that can be said for the majority of the major casinos on the Boulder Strip. In any event, we would definitely recommend coming and checking out Mythic Falls and the atrium, both impressive and from there we’ll just let you decide.

Sunset Station

Our final casino that we are going to consider as being on the Boulder Strip is Sunset Station Hotel and Casino. This is definitely on the Boulder Strip and in a big way, with the largest casino floor in the area coming in at more than 162,000 square feet. Additionally, the hotel on the property has a total of 448 guest rooms and suites.

The most notable qualities of the property are the thirteen screen movie theater and the 72-lane bowling alley that is open 24/7 (!?), if you want to bowl, then you know where you need to stay in the Las Vegas area. Who hasn’t woke up at four o’ clock in the morning and bemoaned the fact that they couldn’t immediately go bowling before?

Additionally, the property is home to a 5,000 seat outdoor amphitheatre which features a wide variety of musical artists throughout the year. If you want to see who might be performing in advance of your trip, then we would recommend you check out their website and maybe you’ll end up planning your stay accordingly.

The property originally opened in June of 1997 and was built by Station Casinos, who still owns it to this day.

In addition to the movie theaters and the bowling, the property is home to a Cyber Quest arcade as well as a Kids Quest area who can act as a babysitter of a bit whilst you run off and do some adult things, or maybe just enjoy a quiet dinner. As with the other Boulder Strip properties, the focus here is on locals, those traveling across the country by car, RV travelers and people going to the Vegas area with children…for whom the night scene on the Strip or Downtown might be a little much.

In of the entertainment that comes to the outdoor 5,000 seat venue, you can expect there to be a lot of Country Music artists and maybe some Blues performers here and there. Events are sporadic, however, so you’re going to want to check the schedule on their website if seeing an outdoor show is important to you.

Indoor venues to enjoy live music are Club Madrid and Rosalina’s, with the latter being one of the lounges on the property and the former being home to 500 seats for viewing. As with the outdoor amphitheatre, Club Madrid performances are sporadic and there is a schedule of events available on their website, so we would recommend checking that out if that’s going to make or break whether or not you stay at the property. As far as Rosalina’s goes, we would recommend that you call and inquire as there is no set entertainment schedule on the website for this lounge….though we suspect it’s almost exclusively weekend evenings.

The property is also home to an outdoor pool which is available for guests when it is in season.

Weekday rates for slow times of the year and days with no special events are usually going to exist somewhere in the $50-$100 range. In the meantime, weekend rates (as always) can be all over the place and just depend on what’s going on in town. Guests on the weekend can still expect to pay around $150/night, if it’s slow, and if there’s a special event going on or just high demand season, don’t be surprised to see even standard rooms go for well north of $300/night.

Of course, these rates are all before the $34.19/night Resort Fee, which is the price on that per night after tax is factored in. Overall, we’re going to say that the value at this Spanish castle themed property is about in line with anything else that you would find in the Boulder Strip area, as far as major casinos go. The prices are right in line with the other Stations property and Sam’s Town.

Turning our attention to the casino floor, we can say that those offerings are also going to be pretty similar to the other major properties on the Boulder Strip. You’d have to know almost nothing about Video Poker to not find a machine that has a paytable of 99%+, and several of the machines have a few paytables that are over 100% RTP, so you definitely can’t go wrong with that.

Table Games include Blackjack, Craps, Roulette and Pai Gow Poker.

The Sunset Station is home to a total of more than 2,500 combined slot, video poker and video keno machines. As we mentioned, some of the Video Poker here is awesome, though that’s pretty much the standard for the Boulder Strip.

The property is home to a sizable Bingo Room that is very popular amongst locals and out of the area visitors who are Bingo enthusiasts. We can say that this Bingo room is as good as any other you will find in the area.

In addition to the Bingo, Sunset Station is home to a Live Keno area that is popular amongst those guests of the property who enjoy that game. Finally, Sunset Station is home to a Race and Sportsbook that is about the size you would expect for such a casino on the Boulder Strip area.

The most likely eatery that you will find yourself at is The Brass Fork, which is open 24/7 and serves breakfast, lunch or dinner all day long. This is an American diner style restaurant that puts out simple, but great, food and is very modestly priced. It’s probably going to be a frequent stop for you if you are staying here with your kids.

Sunset Station is home to a Pasta Cucina location, which is a very modestly-priced restaurant that serves traditional Italian food in a simple way. Once again, if you’ve got the whole family in tow, then this eatery is not going to break the bank.

Sunset Station is home to an Oyster Bar location which has fresh oysters, gumbo and a wide variety of other dishes. For me, I would just load up on the oysters the entire time and try them with a bunch of different sauces and seasonings, who needs anything else when you have oysters?

Beyond these sit down restaurants, Sunset Station is also home to an expansive food court that has a wide variety of options such as Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, Fatburger (fast food burgers), Panda Express (cheap Chinese food), Stabucks, Subway, Viva Salsa (low priced tacos and nachos) and Wingin’ It, Shakin’ It, which is a place of pizzas and wings served quickly and at a low price.

Overall, this property has everything that you could ever want for those traveling with families and is very similar to other Boulder Strip properties in that regard. Another similarity to the other Boulder Strip properties is that there is an emphasis on value and being budget friendly in most areas, except for the hotel rooms, of course. If you’re touring the country with kids or just visiting the Las Vegas area with them in tow, or even if you’re a local looking for a night out with the family, this property might make your list.