Kind of depends on how you define 'crappy hotels'.

If it's a not-clean place, that's no good. If it's a spare hotel without amenities like gym/pool/restaurant/bar onsite (i.e., a Super 8-type place), that's o.k. with me. Most of the time, all I want is a decent internet connection, a TV, and a clean bed to crash in.

But I understand those who want the rest of it. Just stuff I don't need.

No idea on the actual property in question. I've found Super 8/Days Inn-level places to be generally acceptable, but have come across total dumps in the chain name brands too.

Yes
I define it as Motel 6 (rickroll gave it too much credit).

I think this list I found didn't consider Henderson a neighborhood of LV, but somehow Summerlin is.

I don't have too many restrictions on location besides wanting to go to the strip 2-3 times per week, so any drive under 20 minutes would be fine. I don't even need a big place (no pets/no kids), so I would go for quality house/neighborhood over space. The only big specific want would be natural gas lines for the kitchen. Besides that, it's just a nice house in nice area.

I've never bought a house but calculators are showing I could go up to $380K+ depending on down payment - again thinking condo or townhouse would be right.

Would just rent a condo then. Look at the usual suspects: palms place, veer, the Martin, panorama, sky, the ones over on Joe w brown whose name I can’t remember at the moment, I’m probably missing some. Hidden value probably at the buildings in the arts district (think Hoover btwn LVB and 3rd or so).

I stayed there one night last Oct during the WSOP when it was priced better than all other places. I don’t remember there being a resort fee, the total price is all I usually look at per night. Room was just fine for a chain motel. Clean and had a bed. I would stay again if it was cheaper than the strip properties, especially with WSOP a block away now. Beer are as good as anywhere and way cheaper than strip. Did March Madness there two year now for a session each year and liked the front yard. Great bartenders if you just want to chill. Pretty sure the rooms were renovated when Ellis bout it a few years ago.

I apologize in advance if this is the wrong thread to ask…

I want to learn craps. I see that Ellis Island is probably the cheapest place to play. Any suggestions on learning the basics of craps? Any good videos online? What bets should I avoid that tend to upset the table?

I would suggest watching some YouTube videos that outline various "strategies," such as Color Up
https://www.youtube.com/c/ColorUp

Use them to learn the different bets and the mechanics of how to play. Concentrate on a few basic bets to get you up to speed.

Then get a poker app and play. After a few weeks from this, you can decide if you really want to play for real money :-)

Bets to avoid to upset the table? I'm a strictly dark side player (meaning I'm betting on the 7, the opposite of about 80% of the table). Some people will give me some ribbing, but I've never seen anyone get that upset at someone's betting unless that person was obnoxious about winning while other people's bets lost. It's less about the bets and more about your behavior.

https://wizardofodds.com/games/craps/basics/

Craps is easy. The guy w the dice is playing a game. If he rolls 2, 3, or 12, he loses. 7 or 11 he wins. Otherwise, the number he rolls becomes the "point" and he keeps rolling until he re-rolls the point (wins) or rolls a 7 (loses).

Everything else on the table is a side bet.

Pass = "shooter will win"
Don't pass = "shooter will lose" <- 12 on the come-out roll becomes a push.
Don't pass can ruffle feathers, but just don't be an ******* rooting for it.

Almost everything else on the table is a one-roll bet except (roughly):
* PLACE bets: once the shooter establishes a point, you can "place" 4,5,6,8,9,or 10. If you place the 6 you are betting that the shooter will roll a 6 before a 7 (payouts > 1:1 and depend on #)

* HARDWAY bets: You can bet hard 4/6/8/10, betting that the shooter will roll a 4/6/8/10 "the hard way" (i.e., 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5) before rolling a 7 or rolling your number a "soft" way: (soft 4 = 1-3, soft 6 = 1-5, 2-4, etc.)

* ODDS bets: if you bet the pass line, and the shooter establishes a point (let's say an 8 for the purpose of discussion) you can make an 'odds' bet behind your pass bet. It wins if the point is rolled before 7, BUT it pays TRUE odds, i.e., no house edge. So since there are 6 ways to roll a 7 (first die = anything) and 5 ways to roll an 8 (first die not a one), making an odds bet when the point is an 8 pays 6:5. Many tables give their limits as a multiple of your pass bet. So if you bet $10 on pass and the table limit is 10x odds, you can bet up to $100 odds when a point is established.

The only other thing you might want to know is COME or DONT COME. They are pass and don't pass equivalents, but they ignore that the shooter is in the middle of his game, and it pretends that the shooter's next roll is the come-out roll. Playing don't come is usually the most table friendly way to play don't pass.

GL

Thanks for the tips on craps.

My advice, Don’t do it. If you’re lucky you’ll lose your first session and won’t catch the bug. If you’re unlucky like me you’ll go on a heater the last night of your trip and win a bunch of money and play all night. You’ll than be like me and going forward will dump all those winnings and than some trying to recapture that first time high.

I mean honestly play with money your prepared to lose and just think of it as entertainment. You’re already way ahead of most punters by seeking low limits tables and asking for advice. When your squared up at the table it feels the same playing at EI or the Wynn. I suggest only playing the pass line with odds up to what you feel comfortable losing and maybe a couple of come bets with odds bets. Low limits helps you do this. The odds bet has a 0 house edge and pass line and come bets with odds have some of lowest house advantage of any bet in a casino. There is variance but it’ll work itself out over the long haul. Maybe place the 6 and or 8 still relatively low house edge bets. Don’t play any inside bets, don’t bet the field, place outside numbers, hardways, horn bets etc. They seem like fun but huge house advantage and if you never play them you won’t miss it.

Also just a little etiquette, try not to buy in mid roll wait until the point is resolved, the black puck shows off. When throwing the dice don’t shake them, you’re not playing 4-5-6 in the corner of a pool hall. Try to avoid hitting players or dealer hands or chips on the table when throwing. Sounds intimidating but it’s not a big deal just aim for a spot that’s clear.

don't listen to this gatekeeper. do whatever kind of brief ritual you want when you throw the dice.

Fair, you might get mocked but yeah **** it, do what you want.

To add to this shaking dice much less annoying than yahoos that spend a minute setting the dice in some silly ritual and than just slamming the dice against the wall.

Do you really need to "learn" craps to play? I thought you just put your chips in some spot on the table and then they will pay you if you win, same as roulette. They're all losing bets anyway, might as well let it be a mystery when you get paid or not.

The difference in house edge based on which bets you take can be anywhere from like 0.15% to 30% or so depending on what you bet, so it's definitely useful to "learn" it. Of course an explanation of a few sentences is good enough.

Craps with odds is the best/cheapest gamble you can get at a casino. If you go to some shitty casino and play $5 craps with 10x odds you're losing like a buck an hour to house edge which is like 0.15%. You can definitely out-drink that.

Well, you're losing the dollar to house edge whether you bet the odds or not - but if you want to gamble for entertainment, the odds are the only true gamble in the casino so you might as well bet them.

Yeah, I know some of the bets have worse odds than others, but they're still all losing bets. I don't really see the allure of making any losing bets, but I'm sure some people find those poorer odds bets to be more "fun" than the better odds ones, just like some people prefer to bet on longshots at the horse track while others like to bet on the favorite.

I’m assuming they won’t let me bring my red Yahtzee cup and shake the dice around a bit?

When is your trip. Please report back.

And yeah don’t think you can bring your Yahtzee cup.

The Palms re-opened this week. I went their earlier today...

TR: If u went to the Palms right before the pandemic started, it literally looks the same. The only change of note brought a tear to my eye...

William Hill now runs the sportsbook and they completely renovated the sportsbook area. By "renovated", I mean...

- they ripped out the old poker room area. zero trace of the old red decor left.
- they ripped out all of the desk seats,
- no more race book
- the only thing left was a few high circular tables w/ high chairs, some betting kiosks and an unoccupied betting counter.

Verdict: I want the old Palms circa 2002-2012 back. Even for locals it sucks now - all of the restaurants are overpriced garbage and no poker. Why else go there? at least bring back Gardunos and I'm there.

Bad take. "Blackjack is a losing game anyway, so what's the point of even playing basic strategy LOL?" Like the other poster said, the house edge on craps can range from a fraction of 1% to upwards of 20% depending on how you bet. Very different from roulette. If you're going to play craps for fun and care even a little bit about getting the most bang for your entertainment buck, you should absolutely take ten minutes to learn the basics on the internet beforehand.

About a week away…going to be a good time.

Super interesting. I think it will have a lot more energy with good players from San Manuel hopefully coming up. Went to the opening on Wed - I thought the sportsbook looked great. I hated the old one. Food I thought was very good - had samples from Tim Ho Wan, Mabel’s, Greenstreet, and Scotch 80. I didn’t see pricing so may well be overpriced. It definitely was before! Casino floor and layout are still a challenge, but I don’t know if you can put another 200 million in and feel good about it.

Overall I’m excited for it but it definitely has some challenges to overcome.

Jesus dude... the Poker room has been absent since before Station Casinos took it over... for YEARS.

I am still hopeful that the new owners will eventually put one back in eventually.

I was a bit harsh in my initial ramblings. San Manuel basically inherited a freshly made over casino so there really wasn't any reason for them to change much. The new sportsbook - William Hill probably paid for themselves (their enterprise is separate from the rest of the casino). I've just never liked the restaurant options in the most recent version of the Palms. casual dining there is now the food court, everything else is a bit too pricey and frankly not what I want to eat now. but admittedly this is 100% a personal preference.

yeah it's been closed since 2014. I've had the same hope but seeing the last vestiges of the old poker room all gone now just gave me a sad. I'm pretty sure poker at the Palms will never be again.