Las Vegas - Binion's Old School and Loving It

I just got back from a great trip to Binion's 12/16-12/19/07 and have to say that the Coffee Shop was the best I have encountered since the Oak Creek at the Horseshoe Bossier (a Jack Binion Property). The service was outstanding and all four meals I had during my stay were great. The twelve ounce New York Steak Breakfast Special ($5.99) was tender and flavorful as was the hot fully buttered sour dough bread. The Prime rib special ($8.99) was large and tender with a excellent baked potato. Also worth mentioning was the baked manicotti, good as well as being again very large. Its nice to see such a good dinner salad served with good hot rolls. It was a great experience overall, the really seem to care about their gamblers here. What a change from the strip, no tourists here; just us gamblers who enjoy a good deal for our substantial gambling losses. Loved the great raspberry ice tea as well. Great Job Binion's, I will be back soon for more play and will next time try your Steakhouse.

The Binion's Hotel (two nights comped) was basic but I hear more improvements are on the way. I really liked how nice the staff was and thought the casino looked great after the recent renovation. I had stayed at The Paris (two nights comped) for two days so being downtown was a nice and much needed change on pace. My next trip in Jan will be at the RIO (again two nights comped), but I plan to say again at Binion's. I am unhappy with Harrah's and I think Binion's would make a great new future home. The Player's club seems to be extremely generous with comps: $1.50 per point and 100pts (100pts=$1.00 comp) for each comp dollar. They also seem to have a great promotion for the next three months. As a added bonus points earned count toward extra free play, general comps, or Steakhouse comps. The levels are like from 5,000pts for a $50.00 comp to the max bonus, which is with 20,000 points will get a near $600 Steakhouse comp. This bonus does not come off your regular comp points. This clearly leaves Harrah's and MGMMirage in the dust. Also the comps don't expire as long as you visit the property at least once a year. I will have my friends move their Diamond level play here as well; this is an old school place we could all like. Comps which are given freely with Hosts whom have strong authority for strong players.

You're gonna love the steakhouse! http://flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8797848&postcount=4

steakhouse was OK---the view was very nice.

Gallagers (NYNY), BOA (Ceasar's forum shops) and CraftSteak (MGM Grand) are better for my money.

They short paid me on the roulette table.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=764206

steakhouse was OK---the view was very nice.

Gallagers (NYNY), BOA (Ceasar's forum shops) and CraftSteak (MGM Grand) are better for my money.

They short paid me on the roulette table.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=764206

I'm addicted to the Steak Au Poivre, at Binion's. Sunnyhere never misses a chance to order the Steal Dianne at Binion's. Mrs. kaukau adores the Filet Mignon at Binion's, and I have even been intrigued to order their signature dish: Chicken Fried Lobster. I liked it; Mrs. k, thought it was "Enh." We dine there about once a month. It's Old School.

Dave, the Maitre D', will seat you immediately, without a reservation, for a $20. He was born in Las Vegas; graduated from Las Vegas High;, and will share some great stories of Vegas' past, if you're interested. He is totally cool, totally Old School.

Regarding the short pay, anyone can get shorted on color-up, anywhere: on the strip, downtown, or off-strip. Gotta be vigilant. But I'm sure all they succeded in gaining was the loss of a good customer.

I'm addicted to the Steak Au Poivre, at Binion's. Sunnyhere never misses a chance to order the Steal Dianne at Binion's. Mrs. kaukau adores the Filet Mignon at Binion's, and I have even been intrigued to order their signature dish: Chicken Fried Lobster. I liked it; Mrs. k, thought it was "Enh." We dine there about once a month. It's Old School.

Dave, the Maitre D', will seat you immediately, without a reservation, for a $20. He was born in Las Vegas; graduated from Las Vegas High;, and will share some great stories of Vegas' past, if you're interested. He is totally cool, totally Old School.

Regarding the short pay, anyone can get shorted on color-up, anywhere: on the strip, downtown, or off-strip. Gotta be vigilant. But I'm sure all they succeded in gaining was the loss of a good customer.

I got the Strip with Blue Cheese...pretty good. Maybe the bad taste in my mouth over roulette had something to do with how the steak tasted.

We had reservations, but ate at 5pm on a Sunday, anyone could have gotten a table at that time reservations or no.

The whole situation was messed up. The dealer going on break..the replacement not having a firm grasp on the English language. The whole pit boss as a used car salesman vibe.

I go to vegas about 5 times a year. Not a huge gambler but do put my time in on the craps table. 25 people made the trip for my 40th b-day about 100 couldn't make it.

They all heard my story....so has anyone reading flyer talk. I hope it was worth it for them.

I got the Strip with Blue Cheese...pretty good. Maybe the bad taste in my mouth over roulette had something to do with how the steak tasted.

We had reservations, but ate at 5pm on a Sunday, anyone could have gotten a table at that time reservations or no.

The whole situation was messed up. The dealer going on break..the replacement not having a firm grasp on the English language. The whole pit boss as a used car salesman vibe.

I go to vegas about 5 times a year. Not a huge gambler but do put my time in on the craps table. 25 people made the trip for my 40th b-day about 100 couldn't make it.

They all heard my story....so has anyone reading flyer talk. I hope it was worth it for them.

BTW, Binion's has been bought by the 4 Queens: odds are they're gonna blow it up rather than renovate.

Ya gotta smile at the LVRJ's nose for news, eh? ;)

http://www.lvrj.com/breaking_news/27235054.html

Downtown's most popular attraction is back!

Ya gotta smile at the LVRJ's nose for news, eh? ;)

http://www.lvrj.com/breaking_news/27235054.html

Downtown's most popular attraction is back!

Well gee, I didn't know the attraction had been gone. That's how long I've been in downtown :). Was there a couple weekends ago for the Continental bash at the GN and walked around. Went in Binion's and saw the stack of cash and honestly it looked like it had always been there.

Ya gotta smile at the LVRJ's nose for news, eh? ;)

http://www.lvrj.com/breaking_news/27235054.html

Downtown's most popular attraction is back!

Paris casino has a display case with $1,000,000--its almost at the junction between Paris and Ballys--how many other casinos have big amts on display.
[They could also be 100 bill packs with 1 $100 and 99 $1 bills--how would anyone know?:p]

The original display had 100 $10,000 bills (http://stores.ebay.com/Jay-Parrinos-The-Mint-LLC/about-detail.html).... And anybody can dummy up a bankroll with a $100 bill on top.

BTW, has anybody noticed that one can purchase $500 and $1000 bills on eBay? I would love to be able to have a wallet with a bunch of these banknotes. If one were to plunk down a $1000 bill at a craps table, would they take it?

Paris casino has a display case with $1,000,000--its almost at the junction between Paris and Ballys--how many other casinos have big amts on display.
[They could also be 100 bill packs with 1 $100 and 99 $1 bills--how would anyone know?:p]Not casino related, but they just built a new Federal Reserve here in Kansas City and they have a case with $30 or $40 million in $100 bills on display in their new "Money Museum". If you're ever in KC and have an hour or so to kill, it's a neat little free attraction.

BTW, has anybody noticed that one can purchase $500 and $1000 bills on eBay? I would love to be able to have a wallet with a bunch of these banknotes. If one were to plunk down a $1000 bill at a craps table, would they take it?

IIRC, these were semi-regular currency in Vegas in the late 60's to early 70's. I'm pretty certain 1969 was the year the US ceased printing currency in denominations above $100.

I've seen some picture's of my favorite gambler of all time, Ken Uston, with some of these high denomination bills. I also know he collected a bunch, not really sure why... anyway, a quick google yielded the following quote :

Kenny needed some quick cash in the early 1980s and came to me for a loan. He offered collateral. So I lent him about $10K. The collateral? His collection of $500, $1,000 and $10,000 bills he didn't want to convert. He paid me back within just a few weeks. I met him inside the safety deposit room of an Atlantic City bank and Kenny repaid the loan in casino chips from Resorts International. One of his teams had just doubled a bank.

a great photo of a five-hundy... (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thunt77/2258353481/)

from the US Treasury :

There are also several denominations of currency notes that are no longer produced. These include the $500 bill with the portrait of William McKinley, the $1,000 bill with a portrait of Grover Cleveland, the $5,000 bill with a portrait of James Madison, the $10,000 bill with a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, and the $100,000 currency note bearing a portrait of Woodrow Wilson.

Tim and Michelle of FiveHundyByMidnight (fivehundybymidnight.com/fhbm) said that there are pretty ridiculous new strictures on how you are deemed worthy to take your picture with the Golden Nugget display.

They mentioned the following:
It's only visible during daylight hours (10am-10pm), and to get your picture taken you must be a member of the Slot Club, pay $20 for the souvenir photo, and commit $25 to slot or table play.

Hopefully they realize this is the *opposite* of good PR and will stop with the silly restrictions. (The daylight one is probably an insurance issue, but the rest is ridiculous)

Come to think of it, I actually have three of the thousand dollar bills.

Tim and Michelle of FiveHundyByMidnight (fivehundybymidnight.com/fhbm) said that there are pretty ridiculous new strictures on how you are deemed worthy to take your picture with the Golden Nugget display.

certainly hope you haven't had to listen to any of my rambling drunk dials to FiveHundy ;);)

Tim and Michelle are real good peeps! ^^

Paris casino has a display case with $1,000,000--its almost at the junction between Paris and Ballys--how many other casinos have big amts on display.
[They could also be 100 bill packs with 1 $100 and 99 $1 bills--how would anyone know?:p]


I was in there last week and I noticed that the cash between Paris and Ballys was gone. I was surprised when I was in Binions to see that their cash had returned.

Binion's and the other Fremont casinos were very kind to me. I won more $$ there along with Slots A Fun than I did on the strip. As soon as I sat down at the slots, I was asked, "Anything to drink?". I was at PH at the machines for 45 minutes and no one asked me what I wanted to drink.

There are also several denominations of currency notes that are no longer produced. These include the $500 bill with the portrait of William McKinley, the $1,000 bill with a portrait of Grover Cleveland, the $5,000 bill with a portrait of James Madison, the $10,000 bill with a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, and the $100,000 currency note bearing a portrait of Woodrow Wilson.

If I pay for something with a $100,000 bill, will they test it with one of those little pens?