It sounds stupid, but this knocks a big chunk out of my interest in stopping in Vegas in August when we're out west with Marc's family. Oh Sahaaaaaaaaaaaaaraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

One dollar blackjack is awesome. I have never seen one dollar tables. Maybe Laughlin has $1 blackjack.

Apparently it's not such a great business strategy.

Casino Royale used to have really low limits. I didn't stop in when we were there in December because the video crew from one of those Cops! shows was filming someone getting arrested up against the side of the building, and the crowd was about six people deep on the sidewalk, so it was too hard to get inside.

Now I have to figure out where we should stay when we go to Vegas! We were going to stay up near the Sahara, but without that draw...hmmmm, where to go, where to go. It's August, I would think rates will be pretty cheap. YAAYAYAYAY VEGAS TIME!!

Holy cow, are the rates ever cheap. TOO MANY DECISIONS. AHHHHHHHHHH.

The Flamingo it is! Might not be the fanciest, but the newly renovated GO rooms look nice, and the location is great.

Is anyone even reading this thread? I might be talking to myself. LA LA LA LA LA.

GO room? Like Go, the game? People bet on that?

Go Room. Why they call them that, I don't know, maybe the gambling! I must goooo the tables.

Oh, those Go rooms do look awesome. Even swanky. Any self respecting lover of pink (I am wearing a pink shirt RIGHT NOW), as you and I are, would have to stay in one of those rooms.

GO - last part of FlaminGO, perhaps? You'll have to ask them while you're there :D

Oooo, yes, that must be it!

The Flamingo is a great central location on the Strip. You also have the local bus servicing Flamingo Rd, running west to Rio and Palms (you two should check out the Playboy Club in Palms), or east to Maryland Pkwy for hometown services like groceries, drugstores and such. If you want a cab, go to Bill's on the corner (formerly the Barbary Coast). You rarely have a wait and you will save more than a few bucks just getting the cab oriented in the proper direction.

Looking at a map, the only reason now to go north of Desert Inn is the Stratosphere. In August, I would couple the Stratosphere to a visit downtown, hitting the Stratosphere in late afternoon to get pictures from the tower, and then downtown just after the sun goes down. Still hot, but bearable, and without missing much, you can get back up to the Flamingo as early as 10.

I still think that going to the Downtown Bus Terminal to grab the front seat on the top level of a Deuce in the evening from downtown to Mandalay Bay is the best sightseeing attraction available in Las Vegas. Smuggle on a stiff, iced drink to make it better. Even after downtown, the walk from Mandalay Bay to Bellagio is doable. You can hit the highlights of each casino on the west side of the Strip in two or three hours.

That Flamingo site is so PINK!!! Very nice looking room.

It was an e-mail about deals at the Stratosphere that made me think to do this whole Vegas trip in the first place. If the Sahara were still open in August, we would have definitely stayed there.

So, so jealous. I want to go to Vegas... (she says in her best whiny voice). I love the Golden Nugget downtown myself. $5 blackjack during the day (not a buck, true, but better than $10). You might want to look into the smaller casinos locals love -- I can't remember names, but I know I saw a bunch of 'em on a Travel Channel show. They might have lower table limits. I know the video poker and slots are looser. (Ardiril, do you know the ones -- the low-key places off strip with the big parking lots?)