Las Vegas Casinos

As well as being one of the entertainment capitals of the USA, Las Vegas is truly a gambler’s paradise.

Whether you like to play small, medium or high stakes casino games, poker or bet on sports – Sin City has 24/7 gambling action available for you – not only in casinos, but also at places like gas stations – and even at the Airport (there are countless tales of tourists and travelers hitting big slots & video poker jackpots at Harry Reid International Airport and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas!).

Once you have checked into your casino resort (look out for resort fees) – it’s time to hit one of the huge selection of casinos in Vegas.

Best Places To Play Table Games in Las Vegas

Table games in Las Vegas run at various limits – from small stakes to mega high stakes to keep gamblers of all types entertained.
Where you gamble is as important as where you choose to stay in Vegas
Table game favorites in Las Vegas include blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, Three Card Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Pai Gow Poker, and even Ultimate Texas Hold’em.

Not all casino games in Vegas have the same payouts however. Each casino in Vegas, and each table usually has different minimum and maximum bets. Of course expect to see non-European roulette wheels in the mix in Las Vegas with not just one zero – but two or three zeroes (thereby increasing the casino’s house edge).

It’s definitely worth shopping around to find the best value games before you engage in any form of gambling in Nevada or in any state / country.

Las Vegas Roulette

The house edge on double zero roulette is 5.26%, while Triple zero roulette has a 7.69% house edge – so it make sure to game-select if you are planning on playing a lot of roulette in Vegas – otherwise you are burning expected value (EV) unnecessarily. However, don’t expect to find many single-zero (European) Roulette games in Vegas. Plaza offers single zero roulette, but apart from that It’s pretty much double or triple-zero roulette all the way in Vegas.

The casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas has double zero roulette, whereas almost every other gambling establishment has triple-zero roulette – with a much larger house-edge.

Don’t assume that all casinos have roulette tables – in fact even in downtown Las Vegas there casinos which don’t offer this iconic casino table game (for example Main Street Station Casino only offers a handful of table games: Blackjack, Craps, Pai Gow Poker, Three Card Poker and Let It Ride). If you have doubts you can call the casino and ask the front desk if which roulette games (if any) are running.

Baccarat

This game is everywhere – but If you’re learning the game and don’t want to burn a hole you in your bankroll, you can play Stadium Baccarat at the the Venetian for $5.

Blackjack – 3:2 vs 6:5 Games – which to avoid?

Generally speaking, dealing the 6:5 version of blackjack improves the house’s edge (or advantage) by about 400% in the long-run.
Seasoned Las Vegas blackjack players have seen Las Vegas casino after casino shift from classic 3:2 Blackjack to 6:5 over the last 10 or so years.

How Do 3:2 and 6:5 Blackjack Games Differ?

The distinction between 3:2 and 6:5 blackjack is small but significant:

• If your blackjack hand wins at 3:2 blackjack – you will receive 3 dollars for every 2 dollars wagered, or 1.5:1 odds.
• With winning odds of 6:5, you receive $6 for every $5 you wager, giving you 1.2:1 odds.

Although it may seem like a small distinction, it has a significant impact on the results you can expect, and makes a huge difference to your pocket, and a casino’s bottom line in the long-run.

For players using perfect basic strategy the house edge in the 3:2 blackjack game is around 0.5 percent. That implies they earn an average of $0.50 for every $100 wagered. Of course most casual casino players don’t bet optimally at the game – so the real house edge can be much higher, on average. With a 6:5 blackjack payout, the advantage soars to almost 2%!  You may now anticipate giving the house up to $2 for every $100 wagered, on average in the long run.

Obviously, as professional gamblers place thousands of wagers over time, these discrepancies become very pronounced in the long run.

If you see a 6:5 blackjack game – run away!

Incredibly there are some casinos in Las Vegas with no 3:2 games whatsoever – and many which do offer 3:2 blackjack require players to play for a large denomination minimum bet.

• Avoid Circus Circus which has no 3:2 blackjack games – but which offers $1 video blackjack as well as $5 minimum 6/5 Stadium Blackjack.

Where to play 3:2 Blackjack in Vegas?

There are many casinos on the Las Vegas Strip where 3:2 is only available at high stakes – and many with no  3:2 whatsoever.  Poker Palace in North Las Vegas has low limit $3 minimum-blackjack with 6 decks. The casino has a novelty rule whereby players may double down before and after splitting on 2 or 3 cards.

• El Cortez Hotel & Casino has 8 single deck 3:2 tables and 6 double deck 3:2 tables.
• Palazzo runs both 6:5 and 3:2 blackjack machines with $5 minimum bet.
• Treasure Island offers $15 3:2 double deck blackjack & Stadium Blackjack from as little as $1.
• Encore runs $25 minimum 3:2 blackjack with 6 decks.

Fremont Street Casinos

If you have never visited The Fremont Street Experience in downtown LV, it’s well worth a visit.

Casinos on Fremont Street

Fremont Street was built in 1905 and became the first paved street in Las Vegas in 1925. It’s a popular place for tourists to gamble, with a number of gambling venues available:

1. Golden Nugget Las Vegas
2. Four Queens
3. Golden Gate Hotel & Casino
4. Fremont Hotel & Casino
5. Binion’s Gambling Hall
6. The D Casino & Hotel
7. El Cortez Hotel & Casino
8. Circa Las Vegas

Best Craps In Vegas

Craps is found at most casinos in Las Vegas. Casinos do try to cater for small-stakes, mid-staks and high-stakes gamblers by offering a variety of minimum and maximum bets at their casino craps tables.

Where to play Craps in Vegas

The best game to play varies on a number of factors including payouts and the gambler’s bankroll. For this reason, different venues may be more suitable for some craps players in Vegas than others.

• Low-rollers might like to play $1 craps at Club Fortune, or Jokers Wild.
• Mid stakes gamblers are spoiled for choice. Good options include Arizona Charlie’s Boulder (min-bet $2, max-bet $1000), 4 Queens (min-bet: $5, max-bet: $500) or Bally’s (min-bet: $5, max-bet: $3,000).
• High roller craps for players with larger casino bankrolls is always available in Sin City. Top choices include Aria (min-bet $25, max-bet:$5,000) or Bellagio (min-bet $25, max-bet:$5,000). Both venues share first place for having the most craps tables in Las Vegas with 8 tables each.

If you’re looking for a real classic electronic craps game in Vegas, you can find Aruze Gaming’s Shoot to Win Craps at the Palazzo.

Sportsbetting in Las Vegas

There are plenty of sports-betting options in Las Vegas.
Top picks include:

• MGM Resorts owned BetMGM Sportsbook & Lounge at the Cosmopolitan.
• The Nevada Gaming Commission approved FanDuel for a license to operate a Nevada sportsbook (a re-brand of Fremont Sportsbook) at the The Fremont Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas – Fandduel’s first branded retail sportsbook partner – expected to open for business in Vegas in early 2023

Poker in Las Vegas

Poker players are spoiled for choice as most casinos in Vegas offer a spread of poker cash-games and tournaments – especially on the Strip. The biggest live-poker tournament of them all – the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker “Main Event” takes place annually in Las Vegas – attrarcting tens of thousands of poker players hoping to become a multi-millionaire – and the next world champion of poker. The World Poker Tour (WPT) poker festival also has stops in Vegas – with the $10,400 buy-in 2022 WPT World Championship held at Wynn Las Vegas in December.

If you are leaving town and have a few hours layover & the inclination to play some low stakes to mid-stakes Texas Hold ’em somewhere close to the airport, South Point Casino runs $3/$6 Hold’em, and is just 15 minutes from the airport. It’s worth mentioning that South Point has steak & eggs for $5.99 between 12am and 6am at the coffee-shop.

Online Sportsbetting Apps

Nevada residents can also choose from a bunch of legal and regulated online sportsbetting apps. The first to hit the market for people in Las Vegas was Station Casinos’ sportsbetting app “STN Sports”.

Now the market is full of sportsbetting apps operated by Vegas Casinos and Sportsbooks:

• Atlantis Sports Nevada (Atlantis Casino Resort Spa)
• B-Connected Sports (The Orleans, the Cannery, and Sam’s Town)
• BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill
• Circa Sports (Golden Gate)
• Golden Nugget NV Sportsbook
• South Point
• Rampart
• TI Sports (Treasure Island)
• Westgate Superbook (Westgate Casino)
• William Hill
• Wynn Sports

Entertainment in Vegas

F1 Vegas 2023

Most people associate Las Vegas with casinos, flashing lights, and gambling, but starting in 2023 Las Vegas will also serve as one of the locations for Formula 1 races.

The city will make for an interesting race host. Although Las Vegas has hosted Formula 1 races twice in the 1980s, the event in 2023 will be the first time the F1 cars will be racing on the famous Las Vegas Strip. F1 has worked hard and spent money to make it unique.

Residencies

Las Vegas is all about entertainment – and is renowned for shows from performers that you most likely cannot see anywhere else.

Some of the World’s biggest showbiz stars and entertainers have had have residencies in Las Vegas, e.g Britney Spears (Planet Hollywood), Elton John (Caesars Palace) and Kylie Minogue (Voltaire at the Venetian).

Is Smoking Permitted in Las Vegas Casinos?

Smoking is permitted in Las Vegas Casinos. Casinos in Nevada are exempted from the statewide smoking ban. Of course there are a number of casinos in Vegas with non-smoking gambling areas, including Park MGM Las Vegas, NoMad Las Vegas, Bellagio, Venetian and MGM Grand.

For fans of breathing clean air – assuming everyone at table agrees, you can ask a pit boss to turn on the no smoking sign at the Wynn. Other casinos are likely to also happily comply with the request too.

Check out our list of non-smoking casinos in the USA which lists 260 commercial & 148 Tribal casinos in the United states which are “smoke free”.

Movies Featuring Las Vegas Casinos

• Ocean’s Eleven (2001): This movie, which is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name, features several famous Las Vegas casinos, including the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM Grand. The movie tells the story of a group of thieves who plan a heist to rob the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.
• Casino (1995): This movie, which was directed by Martin Scorsese, is set in 1970s Las Vegas and features several famous casinos, including the Stardust and the Desert Inn. The movie tells the story of a casino owner, his wife, and a mafia enforcer, and explores the seedy underworld of Las Vegas in the 1970s.
• The Hangover (2009): This comedy film is set in Las Vegas and features several famous casinos, including Caesars Palace and the Bellagio. The movie tells the story of a group of friends who go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party and end up having a wild and crazy adventure.
• Viva Las Vegas (1964): This musical film, which starred Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret, is set in Las Vegas and features several famous casinos, including the Sands and the Flamingo. The movie tells the story of a race car driver and a singer who fall in love while competing in a Las Vegas auto race.
• 21 (2008): This movie is based on the true story of a group of MIT students who developed a system for counting cards in blackjack and used it to win millions of dollars from casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The movie features several famous Las Vegas casinos, including the Bellagio and the Mirage.

Las Vegas Casinos with Casino Players Cards Programs

Visitors to Las Vegas can enjoy the following casino player card rewards programs (at their applicable properties):

• my|Rewards Boarding Pass: Palace Station, Boulder Station, Texas Station, Sunset Station, Santa Fe Station, Green Valley Ranch, and Red Rock Casino.
• Caesars Rewards: Bally’s, Paris Las Vegas, Harrahs Las Vegas, Flamingo, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood and Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.
• MGM Rewards: Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York, and Park MGM
• Boyd Rewards: The Orleans, Gold Coast, Sun Coast or Sam’s Town, Main Street Station, California Hotel, Fremont Hotel
• Wynn Rewards: Wynn Las Vegas, Encore
• Grazie Rewards: The Venetian, The Palazzo
• mychoice Loyalty Rewards Program: The M Resort Spa Casino, Tropicana Las Vegas, Wynn Las Vegas, Encore
• Wynn Rewards: Wynn Las Vegas Encore
• Club One: Las Vegas Circa Resort & Casino, the D Las Vegas Casino Hotel, Golden Gate Hotel Casino

The MGM rewards card (part of a multi-tiered VIP program) is especially useful – with GOLD status card-holders can avail of free valet parking – a huge boon when the Vegas Knights games are playing, as well as anything else at T-Mobile Arena, as well as a one time $100 food credit, Invited Guest check-in, and no resort fees.

List of all casinos in Las Vegas

There are currently 170 Casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA – offering gamblers the opportunity to win at Poker, slots, blackjack, keno, roulette, video-poker and more.