La Bayou | |
---|---|
Location | Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 |
Address | 15 East Fremont Street |
Opening date | 1920 |
Closing date | June 27, 2016 |
Theme | French |
Total gaming space | 3,200 sq ft (300 m2) |
Casino type | Land-based |
Owner | Derek and Greg Stevens |
Previous names | Northern Club Monte Carlo Coin Castle[1] |
Renovated in | 2000 |
La Bayou was a casino located on the Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.
Aug 12, 2010 Most of the places that still have coin slots are downtown on Fremont Street. Fitzgerald's, Mermaids, the Bayou are a couple that I can think of offhand. Even these machines are usually initially fed with a bill or a payout ticket and then payout in coins. If you're going to play slots in Vegas don't play too much on the Strip. From the minute I walk in off Fremont Street I feel at ease here. I liked this place when it was Fitzgeralds, I like it even more as The D. From the old school coin slots upstairs to the high energy table games downstairs, this place just makes me feel comfortable enough to come in and stay awhile and I enjoy my time spent here. It goes without saying the cost of maintaining a coin-operated slot floor is far more expensive than having non-coin machines. The D Las Vegas is a member of the Fremont Street Experience family of casinos. We work at Fremont Street Experience. 4 thoughts on “ Riviera Slot Machines Get Second Life at The D Las Vegas as Vintage Vegas.
![Fremont Street Real Coin Slots Fremont Street Real Coin Slots](/uploads/1/2/5/1/125190236/118814634.jpg)
The casino had 3,200 square feet (300 m2) of gaming space with 125 slot machines.[2][3] La Bayou was one of the few casinos in Las Vegas where slot machines paid out in coins, rather than vouchers.
- Nov 03, 2017 SlotZilla even has a “candle” on top, just like real slot machines. The candle typically denotes the denomination of the machine. Red tends to be for nickel machines. Vintage Slots at Main Street Casino. The Main Street hotel houses surprises at every turn, including rare antiques and art from around the world. There’s even a slab of the.
- Most of the places that still have coin slots are downtown on Fremont Street. Fitzgerald's, Mermaids, the Bayou are a couple that I can think of offhand. Even these machines are usually initially fed with a bill or a payout ticket and then payout in coins. If you're going to play slots in Vegas don't play too much on the Strip.
- Located in the heart of the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas, the Fremont Hotel & Casino offers a comfortable stay and lively entertainment. Burning Wheel Nitro Inferno Slot Machine. WIN YOUR SHARE OF $1 MILLION! Rodolfo From California Won.
- 36 thoughts on “ Silver Strikes: When Slots Machines Spit Out Collectible Coins ” Steven Brown November 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm. I collect them. In fact when I was out there in October, I won four of them at the Four Queens and only one of them was a double (I cashed it in) but the $20 I put in I lost.
- 1History
History[edit]
Northern Club: 1920-43[edit]
The business opened in 1913 as the Las Vegas Coffee House.
In 1920 Mayme Stocker renamed it the Northern Club, offering liquor and gambling when both were illegal, during the Prohibition era.[1] 'Northern' was a well-known code word among railroad workers for an establishment serving alcohol.[4]
On March 20, 1931,[5] the Northern Club received the first Nevada gaming license.[6][7] This was also the first gaming license issued to a woman, Mayme Stocker.[5]
By 1941, Bugsy Siegel and Dave Stearns were operating the club.[8]
Fremont Street Real Coin Slots Free
Turf Club, Monte Carlo Club, 1940s-1960s[edit]
In 1943, Turf Club replaced Northern Club. It ran only until 1945 when Wilbur Clark leased the club, renaming it the Monte Carlo Club.[1] The Stockers continued to run the Northern Hotel on the second floor[1] until 1949. Monte Carlo Club would close in 1956, but remain in business as a bar until the 1960s. The original building was razed after 1965. A new building was erected, where a Denny's diner opened c. 1967-1968, followed by Sam’s Roast Beef c. 1968-1969.
Coin Castle: 1970-99[edit]
By 1970, the site was operating as the Coin Castle.[9] Herb Pastor was approved to take over the Coin Castle and the nearby Golden Goose casino in 1977.[10] Pastor would later also own the nearby Sassy Sally's casino and the Girls of Glitter Gulch strip club.[11]
La Bayou: 1999-2016[edit]
Pastor decided in 1999 to move ahead with a renovation plan to transform the Coin Castle and Sassy Sally's into La Bayou and Mermaids, respectively, for a total of $6 million.[12][13]
In 2006, Pastor's son, Steve Burnstine, purchased the two casinos and the strip club.[14][15]
Closing: 2016[edit]
In April 2016, Derek and Greg Stevens, owners of the neighboring Golden Gate and Las Vegas Club casinos, purchased the three properties, and announced that the businesses would close on June 27.[15] It was razed soon after.
References[edit]
- ^ abcd'A Brief History of Downtown (cont.)'. Classic Las Vegas. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- ^Nonrestricted Square Footage Report (Report). Nevada Gaming Control Board. January 7, 2016. p. 6. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
- ^Nonrestricted Count Report (Report). Nevada Gaming Control Board. April 18, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
- ^Thomas Ainlay; Judy Dixon Gabaldon (2003). Las Vegas: The Fabulous First Century. Arcadia Publishing. p. 50.
- ^ abRinella, Heidi Knapp (July 7, 2000). 'New book raises questions about Silver State'. Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- ^'Fremont Street Experience Brings Downtown Las Vegas Into Next Century'. Fremont Street Experience. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
- ^McCracken, Robert D. (1996). Las Vegas: The Great American Playground. University of Nevada Press. p. 42. ISBN9780874173017.
- ^Larry D. Gragg (2015). Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel: The Gangster, the Flamingo, and the Making of Modern Las Vegas. ABC-CLIO. p. 24.
- ^'Penny slot machine going way of dodo'. Nevada State Journal. Reno, NV. December 12, 1976. – via Newspapers.com (subscription required)
- ^'Slot operations denied by board for second time'. Nevada State Journal. Reno, NV. August 11, 1977. – via Newspapers.com (subscription required)
- ^Dave Berns (July 24, 1998). 'Porn Web site jeopardizes gaming exec's license'. Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
- ^Dave Berns (June 14, 1999). 'Ex-problem gambler criticizes federal gaming report'. Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
- ^Peter O'Connell (August 27, 2000). 'Lawsuit seeks to silence two casinos' speakers'. Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
- ^Valerie Miller (May 14, 2007). 'Girls of Glitter Gulch cleans up club, tries to revamp image'. Las Vegas Business Press. – via EbscoHost (subscription required)
- ^ abJ.D. Morris (April 21, 2016). 'Stevens brothers purchase more property on Fremont Street'. Vegas Inc. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
Coordinates: 36°10′16″N115°08′46″W / 36.1712°N 115.1460°W
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_Bayou&oldid=817847700'
If you can take one look at a photograph of Downtown Las Vegas in all its vintage glory, and still tell me The Strip can hold a candle to what Sin City used to be, I can’t help you.
Despite my personal inclinations though, pale imitations of European landmarks paired with faux luxury at sky-high prices does appeal to a certain crowd. Sun and moon slot app for android. It must, with most of the 42 million visitors who made the trip to Las Vegas last year confining their entire experience to The Strip.
And hey, I don’t mind seeing a cool show like Absinthe, superstar talents like Celine Dion, or the latest culinary masterpieces from Michelin Guide acclaimed celebrity chefs. Who doesn’t, right?
What I won’t do anywhere on Las Vegas Boulevard, however, is play video poker.
Simply put, The Strip is where video poker bankrolls go to die. Thanks to corporate consolidation within the gambling industry – MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment combine to operate 17 of the 30 casinos lining The Strip – players are left to the mercy of the house.
As you might suspect, casinos in the Silver State aren’t exactly known for their merciful ways. After all, they didn’t haul in $11.9 billion in gambling win last year alone by taking it easy on players.
As you might suspect, casinos in the Silver State aren’t exactly known for their merciful ways. After all, they didn’t haul in $11.9 billion in gambling win last year alone by taking it easy on players.
Video poker players bear the brunt of it too, because the ubiquitous Game King machine from IGT allows casinos to tinker with the pay table as they see fit.
Instead of offering a video poker variant’s “full pay” table – or the precise payout structure that creates the game’s highest payback percentage for the player – most casinos on The Strip reduce key payouts.
By changing the 9/6 full pay table in Jacks or Better, for example, the game’s standard 99.54 percent house edge falls off a cliff:
Jacks or Better Pay Table Comparison
TABLE | PAYBACK |
9/6 | 99.54 percent |
9/5 | 98.45 percent |
8/6 | 98.39 percent |
8/5 | 97.30 percent |
7/5 | 96.15 percent |
6/5 | 95.00 percent |
Playing basic strategy a 9/6 version of this video poker classic offers a perfectly reasonable – and even beatable when comps are factored in – payback percentage of 99.54 percent. That leaves a house edge of only 0.46 percent for players to overcome, which is right on par with the best skill games like blackjack.
But as the payouts are downgraded – through slight adjustments to the key pays on a full house and/or flush – Jacks or Better becomes nothing short of a travesty. If I wanted to battle against an unbeatable house edge of 5.00 percent, I’d splash around on a pure game of chance like double-zero roulette, not the ultimate strategic thinker’s game Jacks or Better.
And this pay table conundrum affects all the other variants as well whenever you play on The Strip:
Deuces Wild Pay Table Comparison
TABLE | PAYBACK |
25/15/9/5/3/2 | 100.76 percent |
25/15/11/4/4/3 | 99.96 percent |
25/16/10/4/4/3 | 99.73 percent |
25/15/9/4/4/3 | 98.91 percent |
20/12/10/4/4/3 | 97.58 percent |
20/12/9/4/4/3 | 97.06 percent |
25/16/13/4/3/2 | 96.77 percent |
20/10/8/4/4/3 | 95.96 percent |
25/15/10/4/3/2 | 94.82 percent |
Double Bonus Poker Pay Table Comparison
TABLE | PAYBACK |
10/7 | 100.17 percent |
9/7/5 | 99.11 percent |
9/6/5 | 97.81 percent |
9/6/4 | 96.38 percent |
8/5 | 94.19 percent |
7/5 | 93.11 percent |
Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Table Comparison
TABLE | PAYBACK |
10/6 | 100.07 percent |
9/6/4 | 98.98 percent |
9/5 | 97.87 percent |
8/5 | 96.79 percent |
7/5 | 95.71 percent |
6/5 | 94.66 percent |
To get a taste of how hostile The Strip has become for sharp video poker players, just realize that you can no longer find a single full pay Deuces Wild machine and its famous player edge of 100.76 percent – anywhere on Las Vegas Boulevard. Not a single machine mind you, even in the best high-limit rooms where whales typically get the best odds in exchange for dumping serious sums.
Even so, I know there’s plenty of players out there who are cut from my mold. Maybe it’s nostalgia over the good old days, or just the frugal nature of grizzled veteran gamblers who prefer savings over spectacle, but Downtown Las Vegas still calls out to a significant segment of the video poker community.
Who am I kidding… it’s mostly due to Downtown’s abundance of full pay machines covering all the most popular variants.
On that front, this is a piece dedicated to the five best places to play video poker on fabulous Fremont Street in the Downtown district.
1 – The Plaza Hotel & Casino
An iconic fixture of the Downtown skyline since 1971, the Plaza has the highest payback percentage on Fremont Street thanks to its low-limit 1-Pair Joker Wild machines:
The Plaza’s Best Video Poker Options
VARIANT | FULL PAYBACK | COIN DENOMINATION(S) |
1-Pair Joker Wild | 100.65 percent | 25¢, 50¢ |
Double Bonus | 100.17 percent | 25¢, 50¢¸ $1 |
Double Bonus Plus | 99.76 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1 |
Bonus Deluxe | 99.64 percent | 25¢, 50¢¸ $1, $2 |
Jacks or Better | 99.54 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2 |
Bonus Poker | 99.17 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2, $5 |
Deuces Joker Wild | 99.07 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2 |
Double Double Bonus | 98.98 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2 |
The beauty of video poker at the Plaza is variety, as you’ll find more than 225 machines covering 10 different variants – almost all of which offer full pay tables.
2 – California Hotel & Casino
If you prefer the value-packed action found at Boyd Gaming properties, the California is your home away from home when playing Downtown.
Along with full pay Double Bonus and it’s sweet 0.17 percent player edge, video poker at the California spans the spectrum from nickel stakes to five bucks a coin:
California’s Best Video Poker Options
VARIANT | FULL PAYBACK | COIN DENOMINATION(S) |
Double Bonus | 100.17 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1 |
Not So Ugly Ducks (Deuces Wild) | 99.73 percent | 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢ |
Super Double Bonus | 99.69 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1 |
Triple Double Bonus | 99.58 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1 |
Jacks or Better | 99.54 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1 |
Loose Deuces Wild | 99.20 percent | $1, $2, $5 |
Bonus Poker | 99.17 percent | 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2, $5 |
Double Double Bonus | 98.98 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1 |
3 – El Cortez Hotel & Casino
The Strip keeps adding new casinos every year, but if you want to play at the oldest continuously operated gambling hall in Sin City, the El Cortez is the ticket.
Constructed in 1941, the El Cortez looks and feels like you’ve gone back in time to a bygone era. That antique vibe can be found in the video poker parlor too.
El Cortez’ Best Video Poker Options
VARIANT | FULL PAYBACK | COIN DENOMINATION(S) |
Double Bonus | 100.17 percent | 25¢ |
Super Double Bonus | 99.69 percent | $1 |
Double Deuces Wild | 99.62 percent | 25¢, $1 |
Triple Bonus | 99.59 percent | 25¢ |
Bonus Deuces Wild | 99.45 percent | 25¢ |
A-C-E-S Bonus | 99.40 percent | 25¢ |
If you couldn’t tell, Bonus-based games are the specialty at El Cortez, so head here to hunt for those high-paying four Aces with a kicker jackpots.
4 – Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino
Originally opened in 1964 as the Lady Luck Casino, the newly renovated Downtown Grand is like a little slice of The Strip transported to Fremont Street.
Except for the full pay video poker machines, that is, which are led by the relatively obscure “Super Aces” version of Bonus Poker:
Downtown Grand’s Best Video Poker Options
VARIANT | FULL PAYBACK | COIN DENOMINATION(S) |
Super Aces (Bonus Poker) | 99.94 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1 |
Jacks or Better | 99.54 percent | 25¢ |
Bonus Poker | 99.17 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2, $5 |
Double Double Bonus | 98.98 percent | 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2, $5 |
In case you’re unfamiliar with Super Aces, this game is just Bonus Poker with a premium jackpot payout of 2,000 coins (on a max-bet) when you land four of a kind in Aces.
Conclusion
Downtown Las Vegas is where it all started, from Benny Binion hosting the first World Series of Poker, the world famous $0.99 shrimp cocktail, and 100x Odds bets on the craps table. Legends were born there, million-dollar bankrolls were built and burned through in a day, and the world’s gambling capital emerged like an oasis in the Mojave Desert sands. The old drag on Fremont Street has seen better days to be sure, but if you’re a sharp video poker player, historic venues like the ones listed above are the most beautiful sight in Sin City.