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The off-Strip Silver Sevens casino has converted from traditional table games to “hybrid” tables. These tables have live dealers, but no chips, and all wagering is done through terminals.

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During a recent visit, we not only checked out that intriguing twist, but also heard from several employees the casino’s plans to rebrand to Continental, including a return of Pink Taco, appear to have been put on indefinite hold.

Silver Sevens is operated by Affinity Gaming, the same company that owns three casinos in Primm—Whiskey Pete’s, Buffalo Bill’s and Primm Valley Resort & Casino. Things are changing at those casinos as well, so gird up.

To begin, lots of casinos have electronic versions of traditional table games.

So-called “hybrid” games (ones that still have a live dealer) solve a number of challenges for casinos, their main benefit being cost savings on labor. It’s worth mentioning Silver Sevens has not let any dealers go due to the changes in its table games.

The biggest selling point for players? Low table minimums.

The biggest difference overall is these games are chipless. Cue the sad trombone for all the chip collectors out there. (Although, if you already have chips from a casino that moves to chipless, the value of your collection just went up.)

In many cases, hybrid games are a compromise so a casino doesn’t have to shut down its table games pit completely, as has happened at several casinos in recent years.

Casino Royale’s table games have yet to return. Tuscany bailed on table games until they returned recently. Railroad Pass, in Vegas-adjacent Henderson, also dumped its table games.

Our friends at Vegas Advantage have done an excellent job of keeping an eye on these trends. They were the first to share the changes at Silver Sevens and at the casinos in Primm as well.

The terminology about what’s happening at these casinos can be confusing. The headline at Vegas Advantage says, “Live Table Games No Longer Dealt in Primm.” All these hybrid games have dealers, though. They’re still live games. Some refer to them as “dealer-assisted” table games.

As most blackjack and roulette tables only have one dealer to begin with, the biggest change is for craps players.

At Silver Sevens, the table games pit now has one Shoot to Win Craps table (one dealer, 10 seats, $5 minimum), four blackjack tables (one dealer, five seats, $5 minimum) and one roulette table (one dealer, two wheels, eight seats).

The cards are real, the wheels are real, the dice are real (and rolled by guests). Live games, just not the way you’re used to playing.

For casinos, the benefits go beyond just cost savings. There’s also something called “game protection.” When chips and cash are used, cheating is more prevalent, along with employee theft and collusion. The folks at Vegas Advantage think the move to chipless games at Primm casinos may have to do with a recent theft we were the first to report, of course. A woman wiggled her way into an unstaffed casino cage and took $652,000 in cash and chips. Chipless tables take chips out of the equation.

Hearing Primm Valley Casino cage was robbed tonight, mid six figures. Biggest twist: Primm Valley Casino had mid six figures in its cage.

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) July 19, 2024

Hybrid games also give casinos more access to data, tracking play so they can make adjustments as needed. Enhancing revenue are other key elements of hybrid games, things like shuffle time and increased number of results.

For example, on the roulette table, because of the two roulette wheels, players can bet twice as often because the wheels are always churning out results. Of course, one can sit out any given spin or just bet on one wheel, but what fun is that?

A big benefit of hybrid games is casinos can hire dealers for personality rather than math skills. See also Circa’s dancing dealers. Just saying. Because games are mostly automated, dealers can focus on customer service.

Players have mixed reactions to hybrid games, despite the fact they’re often very much like the games they know and love.

Beyond the lower minimums, digital games almost completely remove the possibility of dealer error. (This can be a plus or a minus, of course, depending upon if the error is made in the player’s error.)

We appreciate hybrid games (and electronic games for that matter) and often recommend them to new players because it takes the pressure off, especially with the sometimes intimidating game of craps.

Electronic and hybrid games give newbies the chance to play at their own pace, without the stress of betting on every hand or spin or roll. Players can just watch and learn. They can dabble, and when they bet, there isn’t a lot of money on the line.

On The Strip, to get into a typical dice game, you’re in for $200 bucks before you know it.

The minimums at Silver Sevens are $5, but they could theoretically go even lower. (The risk of $1 minimums, of course, is they draw $1 players. Casinos consider this a reasonable trade-off for no players.)

That might be a good idea during this transition, because the dealers are getting brutalized financially. Silver Sevens is sort of a “break-in” house, so dealers were making a fraction of Strip dealers, even before the hybrid games, maybe $100 a shift. Now, even that has evaporated, we’re told. It’s better than having no table games, but still.

There are buttons to tip dealers on the terminals, but one, there aren’t a lot of players, and two, it’s different tipping with virtual money instead of chips. Oh, when we played a hybrid game at Wynn (the last place we ever expected to see a hybrid craps table), we couldn’t tip the dealer cash. We had to insert the tip into the machine and tip via the terminal.

Wynn has a this! pic.twitter.com/JLqAb5UUnd

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) October 10, 2024

Like we said, hybrid games are everywhere. Get used to them.

While we were at Silver Sevens, just hanging out in the table games area, we witnessed customers expressing their strong feelings about the switch to hybrid games to members of the staff.

One guest grumbled about the change to the blackjack games, then made his way to a fully electronic blackjack game. Gamblers aren’t always driven by logic, they’re often driven by mojo. Superstitions take time to overcome.

Silver Sevens has some awareness-raising to do. Maybe give us some chips to fiddle with? Or bikini dealers? Just brainstorming here!

We did a deep dive into Roll to Win Craps when it made its debut on The Strip in 2021. There have been refinements to this game from Aruze Gaming (now part of Interblock, makers of all the other hybrid games at Silver Sevens), mostly to prevent dice sliding, a method of cheating that caused some of the games to be removed from several Strip casinos.

The switch to hybrid games means all of Silver Sevens traditional games have been shut down and removed from the casino floor.

Except one.

A blackjack table with a $100,000 progressive is tucked into a corner. Why is this worth noting? Because according to gaming regulations, if a progressive can’t be transferred to another game, it has to be given away.

Once this table is removed from the floor, Silver Sevens has 30 days to give away the money. This could be very good news for players, and we’ll keep an eye on how this giveaway is done. We won’t tell you about it until after we win, because we don’t need additional competition, but you can bet the minute it’s over with, you’ll hear all about it!

As for the buzzed-about Silver Sevens rebrand to Continental, we’ve been told by front line staff it’s dead, but executives say it’s “a matter of timing.”

Also in limbo is the return of a popular restaurant brand, Pink Taco. We’re betting that plan isn’t happening.

At first we figured the stalled rebrand was financial, but if you go down the casino rabbit hole, you’ll find Affinity Gaming is part of Z Capital Group.

The official site for Z Capital says, “ZCG is a leading, privately held merchant bank comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services and technology development and solutions.” Which translates as, “Z Capital could purchase New Zealand.”

The company owns a ton of restaurant brands, any number of which might fit into Silver Sevens’ big picture. We’re rooting for Italian, but ZCG and its Xperience Restaurant Group mainly do Mexican: Acapulco, Chevys Fresh Mex, El Torito, El Torito Grill, Las Brisas, Who Song & Larry’s, Sinigual, SOL Cocina, Solita, Rio Mambo, The RIM Scratch Craft Eats and Cal Mex Cantina.

No, really, they have a restaurant called The Rim. Please, please bring that brand to Las Vegas, Silver Sevens.

Food is a key challenge at Silver Sevens. The casino’s City Cafe is fairly well-regarded, but it closes early most nights (9:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday). There was a taco truck parked in the casino’s port cochere the night we visited (following a Flo Rida appearance).

Anyway, there are lots of changes in the works at Silver Sevens, and the casino has a new General Manager, Jack Behrens.

Behrens was General Manager of Oyo for a year and previously held positions at Dreamscape (owners of Rio) and Paragon Gaming. He’s a financial guy, but has his finger on the pulse of casinos and gambling, as he is an avid poker player.

Silver Sevens faces some unique challenges, and by that we mean location.

The casino caters mainly to people who live in the neighborhood. Translation: Grinders. It’s a little like Ellis Island, but Silver Sevens is even farther from The Strip. The address is 4100 Paradise Rd., but it’s really on Flamingo.

We’ve always liked the place and tend to have good luck gambling there. On the night of our visit, we hit a royal flush for $1,077.

While not a taxable event, it was a handpay, anyway. It wasn’t a progressive, but the $77 is just tacked onto the jackpot as an on-brand perk for playing there (and making it a handpay offers attendants an additional chance for tips).

We’ll hit Silver Sevens more often if they fix the restaurant issue and keep cranking out those royals. Your results may vary.

Update (Oct. 18, 2024): Silver Sevens has confirmed its $100,000 progressive giveaway. The money will be given away in a winner-take-all blackjack tournament. Preliminaries happen Nov. 1-15, 2024 (Thursdays at 7 p.m. and Fridays at 8 p.m. Semi-finals and finals take place Nov. 16, 2024. The casino will draw 36 players each day (Nov. 1, 7, 8, 14, 15), one hour before tournament play starts. Bring a valid I.D. to Player Services on any tournament date to register between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Fill out the entry form, deposit it in the drawing drum. To qualify for the tournament, a player’s card is not mandatory. One entry per person for the duration of the tournament series. Must be present for the seat drawings. Names will be drawn at Player Services on each prelim date. If the guest has a player’s card, they fill their number in on the form to qualify for the 2nd chance drawings to win $100, immediately following each tournament day. (Five winners per day.) On Nov. 16, four names will be drawn to win $500 free play. Must be 21 or older.

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We’ve written 3,049 stories for this blog and we finally, finally get to use a clickbaity headline! Very exciting.

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Technically, “clickbait” involves enticing readers with a headline but not delivering on the promise of that headline, the content is often dubious or of questionable value. Well, that’s this blog every single day, so this is right in our wheelhouse. This time, however, we’re not only going to deliver on the promise, we’re going to exceed your expectations. Actual results may vary.

But at least we have an excuse to create an A.I. image of a vulture in a casino, so there’s that.

All right, we’ve got some ground to cover before we get into the meat of this story.

What is a “slot vulture,” you ask? Basically, slot vultures seek to improve their odds of winning by watching for slot machines with “persistent” bonuses or jackpots. These slot machines show how close you’re getting to a bonus. Vultures wait for others to feed the machine, then they “swoop” in to grab a jackpot.

These slot machines have grown in popularity in recent years, as has the practice of trying to game the system.

A couple of things worth noting: What we’re describing isn’t cheating.

Depending upon who you talk to, some refer to “vultures” as “advantage players.” The reasoning is they’re making smart decisions based upon their knowledge of these games.

It’s like card counting in blackjack. It’s not illegal, per se, it’s just frowned upon and casinos can refuse service to anyone.

Another thing worth mentioning is some machines that appear to have “persistent” bonuses and jackpots actually don’t. Slot makers realize players like the idea of having an edge, so they’re designing games with bowls of coins, pigs that swell and firecrackers that simulate persistent bonuses, but don’t actually do anything. They’re for show.

Here’s a video about “perceived persistence.”

The games that actually do show players how close they’re getting to a win are a problem for casinos, and we actually were surprised by the reason.

We asked a longtime casino manager why casinos would mind vultures if they aren’t cheating. The machines are being played by novices and experts alike, the game holds whatever it holds, what’s the issue?

The issue, it turns out, has a lot do with casinos wanting all their customers to have the opportunity to hit bonuses and jackpots.

Slot vultures aren’t stealing jackpots, they’re stealing fun.

Also, vultures have become more aggressive recently, often hovering over machines primed for a hit, and intimidating regular guests into leaving the machine.

Naturally, there’s a financial element to this disdain for slot vultures. If you combine their style of gambling with loyalty club perks, players can beat the casino.

Ironically, if vultures weren’t greedy, they might be able to get away with their questionable tactics. They often can’t resist using their casino loyalty club card, which means casinos can track their play and see which machines they’re playing and winning on consistently. Anyone playing just persistent bonus games isn’t a typical casino customer.

When casinos detect vulture behavior, they have the option of pulling the plug on that player’s perks.

Which brings us to why this subject has been in the headlines recently. MGM Resorts recently did a crackdown on slot vultures and those in the casino industry say it’s the smartest thing the company has done in some time.

MGM Resorts dove headlong into its player data and informed advantage players (in some cases, “lifetime winners”) they are welcome to play, but the casino company isn’t going to treat them to same way as their typical customers anymore.

Looks like MGM Resorts is cracking down on slot vultures ("advantage players"), those who look for machines with multipliers, wilds, etc. built up by previous players and use free play to give themselves an edge. Via Vegas Pauly C: //t.co/Y1SuMo7Dzx pic.twitter.com/W7FVcYWp9i

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) September 19, 2024

No more invites to free play tournaments, no offers or comps based upon slot play. “All events and tournaments you are currently booked for…will be cancelled.” Free rooms, canceled.

No, that’s not a typo. “Canceled” is more common in America, while “cancelled” is more of a British English thing. Who made you like this?

MGM Resorts, it seems, is done with slot vultures’ bullshit.

This isn’t a new issue, however.

Casinos have been trying to warn guests about vultures for some time. This warning started popping up on machines at Cosmopolitan back in early 2023.

Cosmo’s warning guests about vultures who don’t merely swoop in after a player leaves a machine, but actively try to get players (who don’t realize what they’re leaving behind) to move. pic.twitter.com/U3FEJoHoak

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) February 20, 2023

This idea of “persistent” jackpots has been around since the early days of slot machines. Old-timey slots would sometimes show coins in jackpot hoppers. This visual was irresistible to gamblers, as it conveyed that the machine was due for a hit.

So, if this is a known problem for casinos, why do slot makers continue to design slot machines this way? Because they’re popular.

CDC Gaming has done a number of great stories about this issue.

CDC Gaming says “the list of the Top 25 most popular machines is dominated by those with progressive meters, perceived persistence bonuses or true persistence features.” The psychology of such slot machines is fascinating.

So, while vultures are within their rights to try and gain an advantage over casinos, casinos have the right to address the issue as they see fit. Casinos are for-profit businesses, after all. Curating the guest experience is a big part of running a casino.

Fun story.

We were chatting with the aforementioned casino manager about vultures and asked for an example of games with persistent jackpot features. He pointed to a bank of machines (pictured below).

He explained on how this machine, Buffalo Ascension (arguably the most popular of the persistent bonus machines), you could see the three middle reels expanding to show the bonus was getting closer to hitting. He also pointed out the specific machine which was most advantageous to players at that moment. During our conversation, a player strolled by the bank of machines and sat a the one he’s pointed out. The casino manager immediately said, “Vulture.”

If you’re looking for an edge on Buffalo Ascension, look for the prominent protrusions. Which was, predictably, the name of our band in high school.

Slot vultures aren’t just random individual players, by the way. Bonus-chasing (or “pot chasing”) teams have formed and they roam casinos looking for slots ready to pop.

Maybe five minutes after spotting that vulture playing Buffalo, another guy breezed by the bank of slots and snapped a photo. The casino manager said this was a scout for his team. These scouts make dozens of passes through multiple casino a day, capturing the status of the machines with persistent bonuses, so others can jump in to play at just the optimal time. It’s a whole thing.

Are bonuses and jackpots guaranteed? No, but the odds are better and that can add up to consistent wins, especially when combined with free play and other loyalty club perks.

We get it. Some would say these players are just smart. Every gambler wants to get an edge over casinos, especially since casinos have math and time on their side.

Here are some advantage play slots.

Nobody’s getting mad if you’re playing smart. Casinos are mad slot vultures are preying on unsuspecting gamblers, though, and they’re fighting back.

Where do you stand on this topic? Are vultures (sorry, “advantage players”) just using acumen and strategy to improve their chances of winning or are they “stealing” jackpots on the backs of tourists loading up the machines for the folks who treat this as a full-time job rather than recreation?

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The post Casinos Are Cracking Down on Slot “Vultures,” Reasons May Surprise You appeared first on Vital Vegas.

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Four Queens in downtown Las Vegas is bringing back its popular Silver Strike slots and we’ve got the exclusive details. The 12 cherished slot machines will once again be available for play on Sep. 19, 2024.

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The machines with a cult-like following are unique because the bonus symbol gets you a special keepsake token. You can cash the Silver Strike coin in for $10 (sometimes $40), but what’s the fun in that? That’s like eating at a restaurant without taking a photo of your food first. What kind of freak even does that?

The Silver Strike machines were removed from the casino floor at Four Queens a few months back, causing a minor freak-out by ardent loyalists, but the machines are being consolidated and when they return, they’ll have a whole new set of token designs (see photos below). Cue the elation from Silver Strike nerds, a designation we happily embrace because we are one.

While the Silver Strike machines at Four Queens have been MIA, the only other Silver Strike machines downtown were at Plaza.

Silver Strike machines were used in private tournaments at Four Queens, but were not accessible by the public.

How popular are these machines? There’s a group called the Silver Strikers Club that follows any Silver Strike news with rabidity.

Here’s a video of what makes Silver Strike machines so special. Drum roll, please.

Yes, you can still win old-school money on these machines, but the tokens are a fun perk and simply unlike any other modern slot machine. When you win a Silver Strike token, it feels like you’re really winning something.

Previously, the Silver Strike machines at Four Queens occupied two banks and were scattered in a couple of other places on the casino floor. Yes, it’s weird we can tell you exactly where they were. Hey, you have things you obsess over. Like feet stepping on soft fruits and vegetables. Who’s the weirdo now?

Now, the machines will be in one place, near the hotel’s registration desk, not far from the valet entrance.

Public service announcement: Please don’t hog the machines if others are waiting. It’s like those dumbasses who play two coin machines at once at Circus Circus. Don’t get us started.

Hey, lady, leave some Silver Strikes for the rest of us! Told it’s taken four hours to accumulate this many tokens. @4QueensLV (h/t @seventensuited) pic.twitter.com/RsENhG6L45

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) January 28, 2022

As we said, Silver Strike machines have an enthusiastic following, with collectors sometimes camping out when new token designs are released.

For the Silver Strike relaunch, the Four Queens team (spearheaded by the casino’s Director of Slots Shaun Webster) have come up with a whole new set of tokens based upon playing card suits. Here’s a first look.

The whole Silver Strike token subculture is fascinating, and as such we do not fully understand it.

Basically, there are “clears” (referring to the plastic cases the tokens come in, we took the tokens out of their “capsules” for our photos) containing the standard Silver Strike token. There are also “red” and “blue” tokens, with seasonal, limited-edition designs (like for Halloween). Then there are the tokens valued at $40. The new tokens feature a popular Four Queens restaurant, Chicago Brewing Co.

Silver Strike token collectors don’t just play to get a token, they play to get entire sets of tokens. As mentioned, some token winners turn these collectibles in for cash, but that sort of defeats the whole purpose of them being collectible. Naturally, Four Queens loves when collectors collect. It’s akin to a player taking a $10 or $40 TITO voucher home. It’s called “breakage.”

Four Queens goes through a shocking number of Silver Strike tokens. For the relaunch, the casino ordered 48,000 tokens. We always assumed most people won the tokens but turned them in for cash. We were mistaken. That supply of tokens lasts just 2-3 months.

Silver Strike tokens are produced by Sunshine Mint in Las Vegas-adjacent Henderson, Nevada.

Why don’t more casinos have Silver Strike machines? Because they’re sort of a pain in the ass, honestly. (The same reason you don’t see many coin slots left in Las Vegas casinos.) The machines are expensive to maintain and refill, and not many casinos are up for fronting $500,000 for an order of tokens.

Do Silver Strikes make as much for Four Queens as these new-fangled penny slots? Of course not, but they make much more than we thought.

No, Silver Strike tokens don’t have a lot of actual silver in them anymore, but don’t be a buzzkill.

There’s a whole regulatory process involved with Silver Strike tokens, technically, “Silver Premium Tokens.” Silver Strike coins are treated like other gambling “tokens” used in casinos, like table games chips.

There are a slew of regulations around chips and tokens. If you are ever suffering from sleeplessness, you can read the regulations. They are a hoot.

Four Queens submits its designs to Gaming, then when those are approved, Sunshine Mint makes samples to submit to Gaming, and at any point regulators can reject the designs. In one instance, the design was approved, but when the coins were produced, they made it look like the woman depicted on the token as, well, cold, if you get our drift. Back to the drawing board. Apparently, Silver Strike tokens can’t depict nipples. Some “fun facts” are more fun than others. You’re welcome.

Here’s the official version of what we just told you: “If, after receiving and reviewing the items and information described by this regulation, the Chair is satisfied that the proposed chips, tokens and related information conform to the requirements of this regulation, the Chair shall notify the licensee or the manufacturer authorized by the licensee to produce the chips or tokens in writing and shall request, and the licensee or the manufacturer shall provide a sample of the proposed chips or tokens in final, manufactured form. If the Chair is satisfied that the sample conforms with the requirements of this regulation and with the information submitted with the licensee’s application, the Chair shall approve the proposed chips or tokens and notify the licensee in writing. As a condition of approval of chips or tokens issued for use at the licensee’s race book, sports pool, or specific table or counter game, the Chair may prohibit the licensee from using the chips or tokens other than at the book, pool, or specific game. The Board may retain the sample chips and tokens submitted pursuant to this subsection.”

No mention of nipples! We’re seeing a loophole here, Four Queens. Just saying.

In addition, this part: “The Board may retain the sample chips and tokens submitted…” We’re thinking somebody at the Nevada Gaming Control Board is a Silver Strike token collector.

When the new unified Silver Strike area is unveiled at Four Queens (a lone machine will be by the casino cage), casino staff will distribute some sweet branded hats and attire to celebrate the occasion. Four Queens has also created a brochure that will share the finer points of the Silver Strike lifestyle, much like the one available at Main Street Station to help guests locate its many antiques and curiosities.

Exciting news, coming VERY SOON!🤫#FourQueens #SilverStrike pic.twitter.com/JBPMT2QvG8

— Four Queens Hotel & Casino (@4QueensLV) September 18, 2024

Why is the return of the Silver Strike slots at Four Queens such a big deal? Well, for the people who love these machines, it’s like asking why Sigma Derby at The D is a big deal or why single zero roulette is a big deal at Plaza or why the Bellagio fountains are a big deal or why Lion’s Share was a big deal at MGM Grand for many years. It’s one of those “if you know, you know” things.

If you’ve never played Silver Strike, now is a great time to do so. Slot machines can get a little repetitive, but Silver Strike machines change things up, and the $10 tokens tend to be easy to get. (The machine plays like other reel slots as well, of course, so lots of other wins are up for grabs as you look for the Silver Strike symbol.) Our over-under on hitting the bonus is 20 spins. For us, it often happens within 5-10 spins. Then again, we have extraordinary good luck. Have you ever seen how thick and lustrous our hair is? We didn’t even need to travel to Turkey for a hair transplant. Or Türkiye. Whatever the kids are calling it now.

Big thanks to Four Queens for letting us share their news first, and we can’t wait to win some (or possibly all) of these new Silver Strike tokens soon. We’re keeping all the tokens this time, though. We heard some Silver Strike collectors bequeath their collections to their heirs in their last will and testament.

We do not use the term “fanatics” or “cult” lightly!

Update (9/23/24): Four Queens has released the decidedly cheesy but on-brand designs for Halloween 2024.

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A local’s favorite, Suncoast, is undergoing a massive overhaul, and the casino’s new sportsbook opens Sep. 4, 2024.

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We are not a fan of “waiting” until things are “open.” We are more of a “sneak preview” person (along “with” being a “gratuitous quotation mark” person, “obviously”). So, we grabbed some pics of the new Suncoast sportsbook while it’s still behind curtains.

We’ve also got the skinny on what else is going on at Suncoast. There’s an ass-ton and there will be a quiz.

Suncoast is about 10 minutes west of the Las Vegas Strip, in Summerlin. Summerlin is also home to Red Rock Casino, and we’re pretty sure Boyd Gaming is making a substantial investment in Suncoast because Red Rock has set a new bar for locals casinos and Boyd wants a piece of that action.

Sportsbooks aren’t big moneymakers for casinos, but they’re an amenity appreciated by locals.

Suncoast has done its sportsbook right, gleaning winning aspects of other sportsbooks (both its own places and competing casinos), bringing together all those best practices in its new venue.

One of the trends Suncoast follows is making the most of automated kiosks, rather than human bet-takers. The existing Suncoast sportsbook has more than a dozen live betting windows, the new sportsbook has four.

Suncoast went all-in on its videos screens and capability. I’m sure they’ll add all the technical specs in their upcoming news release, but we’re pretty sure Suncoast’s video display, at 1,700 square feet, is second only to Circa’s in sheer girth.

Seating is ample, with booths and individual seating, providing a lot of flexibility for groups and reserved tables during big sportsball events.

The bar is beautiful, and there are 26 video poker machines in the sportsbook, with 18 at the bar itself.

Suncoast’s sportsbook sits where the showroom used to be, one of several moves and renovations in the works.

A new high limit slot room opened in the former buffet space. A new food court is coming to that part of the casino as well. Boyd knocked it out of the park with its food court at Fremont casino, and it would be great to see a similar mix of offerings at Suncoast. The fast food offerings are a smidge on the underwhelming side at this point, Subwaywise.

The existing sportsbook will close up when the new one opens, and that will become a new bingo room (relocated from the second floor, that space will now be used for meetings and conferences).

Here’s the current sportsbook. We figured you might want to say goodbye.

Bingo doesn’t make much for casinos, either. There’s a reason there are no bingo rooms on The Strip.

Here’s a rendering of what’s coming to the previous sportsbook space.

Also planned is a glorious, 70-seat center bar. We don’t know what it will be called, but it will be right in the center of the casino (the current casino video poker bar is going away).

Suncoast’s bowling center is also getting a revamp, along with the front desk and hotel check-in area (rendering below).

The excellent and relatively new William B’s Steakhouse at Suncoast should get more love than it does, as it’s a Strip-quality steakhouse, just with better prices. It’s what we call an “aspirational” offering at Suncoast, a venue for a customer it may not exactly have yet. (Ditto the sportsbook and fancy new center bar.)

The best off-Strip casino steakhouse you haven’t visited yet could very well be William B’s Steakhouse @SuncoastCasino. Giving Joe’s a run for its money for top banana cream pie in Vegas. Definitely returning for happy hour. pic.twitter.com/vXUtl59cFw

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) March 30, 2024

Boyd Gaming tends to be careful with its financial investments (the company is still experiencing institutional trauma from the closure of Stardust and the failed Echelon project, now the site of Resorts World), but the locals market continue to deliver strong results, and Boyd is doing its revamp thoughtfully and with solid execution to-date.

The company expects all the Suncoast upgrades to be completed in mid-2026.

When it comes to changes at locals casinos, even for the better, you can’t do anything too quickly or dramatically. It’s jarring. Regulars will have freak-outs. This isn’t a happy-go-lucky tourist crowd, they’re unforgiving and aren’t shy about expressing their grievances. Some grinders have still not emotionally recovered from casinos changing from coins to paper vouchers. They like what they like. Locals casinos are extensions of their own homes.

Sometimes, when locals casinos move slot machines around, they post signs telling regulars where their favorite machines went. We are not making this up.

Suncoast’s new sportsbook opens to the public at 11:00 a.m. on Sep. 4, 2024.

Big thanks to Suncoast for not booting us out following our “security breach.”

Update (9/4/24): Here’s more from the aforementioned news release following the opening on the Suncoast sportsbook. “”The stadium-style sports viewing experience includes one of the largest high-resolution, wrap-around LED screens in the Las Vegas Valley, measuring over fifteen-and-a-half feet tall, with a surface area of more than 1,700 square feet. The sportsbook features deco-inspired channel-tufted booths, rows of contemporary lounge seating, a 130-foot-long sports ticker and an 18-seat bar offering commanding views of the impressive video wall.”

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The post First Look Inside Suncoast’s New Sportsbook, Plus Renovation Details appeared first on Vital Vegas.

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Venetian has opened a shiny new poker room, which is technically at Palazzo. Yes, it can be confusing, and don’t look to us to unconfuse anything, we are not in that business. We are in the disappointing opening paragraph business, and business is good.

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