Casino Reviews

The Aquarius hotel has leased space to McDonald’s and Subway to serve people staying at the Aquarius Hotel or just visiting the casino.  Both have installed signs that say they do not share eating space and yet they are part of the hotel! Unfriendly notes tell you where you can sit to eat your food. How unprofessional is that? We ignored the signs and sat where we wanted to and no one really bothered us.

Aquarius McDonald’s Subway – Hotel Management

We spoke to the hotel management. They blame it on headquarters negotiating a lease that focuses on maximizing the lease income per square foot. As a result, the comfort and enjoyment of their guests are jeopardized. Seems to me local management should have more control and establish a common area where anyone can sit down and enjoy the food they have purchased at either fast food outlet. This is just an irritant to guests and visitors of the hotel.

In addition, the space for patrons of Subway to eat their sandwiches, and subs, is a long table that faces a wall. How unattractive is that? This is very bad customer treatment by the hotel and also by the fast food outlets.

WiFi

Also at the time of writing this post, the WiFi did not work well in Mcdonald’s which is known for providing free WiFi. The hotel still provided free WiFi but this was the service provided by Starbucks which is no longer there. They are turning that space into a restaurant or deli or something like that. We are not sure if the WiFi will continue to operate or not. Next time we visit the Aquarius in Laughlin, we will see what the service is like and update this post for our readers.

Casino roulette is a very popular game found in all casinos with table games and also on online casino as well. In addition many casinos have added slot machine style casino games that are either automated or are slaved off a main table in the casino. These slaved machines have cameras and TV screens showing the main table that is being managed by casino employees. They also can handle almost any denomination, although the higher denomination tables are usually run by casino employees to provide a more personal relationship with players on the casino floor. They provide roulette players with more opportunities to play roulette.

Types of Casino Roulette Tables

There are two main types of roulette tables in the casinos. Not all casinos will have both types and some casinos will only run one type of casino roulette, usually the American style of roulette. European roulette, which is the table shown on the picture looks like any other roulette table with one exception. This table only has one zero on the board while American roulette tables will have both a Zero and a double Zero spot on the table which decreases the odds for the players essentially increasing the take for the house.

What is the Difference to the Average Player

The difference to the average player is really only one of odds. The zero spot is known as the house number. Players can bet on this number the same as any other number, however because there is one more number that is not part of any grouping, it increases the odds slightly in favor of the house. There are 36 numbers on the table, plus one more for the zero on an European style roulette table for a total of 37 numbers and players have a 1 in 37 chance to win when betting on single numbers.

American Tables

On the American table there is the single zero and the double zero spots making 38 spots to bet on and players have a 1 in 38 chance of winning when betting on a single number. Players have a slightly worse chance of winning when playing on an American style table. Most serious players prefer to play on the European tables since they have a better chance of winning something.

This same odds difference carries through to the other best when you are betting groups of numbers. For example if you are betting colors, either black or red, you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning on a European style roulette table and a 1 in 4 chance of winning on the American table. Most North American casinos prefer the American style roulette tables for obvious reasons, although some also have the other type of table as well.

The European tables are typically only offered in gambling markets where there is a lot of competition. In markets where there is little competition, you will not find these tables since they really are not competing with anyone. I have never seen an European style roulette table in any government run casino. After all why would you improve the odds for players when you have no competition. Tthe government is trying maximize the take from their players?

Can You Beat the Casino Roulette Table

Occasionally someone will get lucky. They have a run of numbers that they have picked. They may make a lot of money with a system they have. I have seen a friend run up $300 into $16,000.  However he has only done that once in his lifetime so it is a rare event. His system was to start with $5 on 6 numbers for a total of $30 on the table. If he wins, he would double his bet. When they paid him with $1000 chips, he would hand them to his wife and keep playing. This way he would be playing with the casino’s money and take some winnings home with him. This one day he handed 16 $1000 chips to his wife and he was pretty excited to have done that. Unfortunately he has never had such a run of luck again.

Betting on single numbers pays 35 to one odds. While playing on groups of numbers pays lesser amounts depending on the quantity of numbers selected. This can be a lot of fun with players winning huge sums of money and losing huge sums of money!

As always bet with your head and not with your emotion! Play to have fun  and if you win, consider it a bonus. For more general posts about casino games, click here.

Palio at Bellagio is a great little cafe overlooking the pool were you can have a quick bite, coffee etc.
We always go here for our breakfast and split one of the gigantic muffins. They are so large that they will
easily satisfy most people. It is a bit expensive, but it is one of the few places you can get free refills of coffee. They also have the best blueberry jam from France! This is truly a great little place to read the paper, keep up with your social networks or write blog posts like this.

The Palio at Bellagio

This little cafe has become one of our traditions. Every time we go to Vegas, whether we are staying at the Bellagio or not we come here for breakfast on one morning. My wife likes the atmosphere and the view of the pool. I like the muffins, particularly the raisin bran muffins with blueberry jam spread across them. We cut them into 3 slices, they are so large and then spread jam across all three slices. This is one of the best tasting muffins around.

Prices are a bit on the high side, but then what isn’t in Las Vegas. A coffee in a Starbucks that is attached to a Casino is going to cost $3.50 a small coffee. Normally you would pay $1.75 for the same thing at a regular Starbucks. You pay for the atmosphere and the surroundings. It is just part of the overall cost of going to Las Vegas.

Although the number of calories is probably really high, once or twice a year is not going to make a huge difference and beside while you are in Vegas you are walking a great deal so that makes up for it. While in Vegas you probably get more exercise than any other time of the year just with the amount of walking that you do while in the city.

D.Vino at Montecarlo restaurant at the Montecarlo provided the service fast. We had three of four meals which were not very good, fish smelled fishy bad smell, the pasta was not very tasty, and the pizza very bland. We complained to management, and absolutely nothing was done. It was as if they did not care, so we did not leave a tip. We felt  bad for the waiter, since it was really not his fault, but we would have really sent the wrong message if we had left a tip. We also mentioned how concerned we were about the food to the Matri d, and they did nothing so I guess we will not be back there.

D.Vino at Montecarlo – Las Vegas

On the other hand we did receive the following from the D’Vino at  Montecarlo:

• Two nights comp’d – based on our play at the MGM group of resorts
• One night at casino rate which was less than $100, also a really good deal
• Seventy five dollars in free play to use in almost any slot machine
• Twenty dollar charge- coffee, water, paper, wifi, which many of the hotels now charge and frankly we disagree with this since we do not use the services.
• Room was ok, met all of our needs, but nothing to write home about
• Keurig coffee great
• Service poor – coffee , water missing, we had to order it from room service
• Mlife service poor- one attendant meant we had to wait in line for some time
• Fast food restaurants- McDonald’s, subway and others  makes it very easy to eat inexpensively
• Great pool area for kids, not something we took advantage of

We have stayed at many hotels in the Las Vegas area including the Montecarlo hotel. This was one of the worst from a restaurant perspective. We certainly got good value for the cost, since we were comp’d for the rooms.

We probably will not stay here again. There are much better places to stay at in Las Vegas and will not go to the D.Vino at Montecarlo again.

The Bellagio Water Show – Las Vegas is shown many times a day, however it is especially beautiful at night with the water, lights and music. During the day, the show is scheduled every 30 minutes starting in the afternoon. They play really great music and the fountains perform to the beat of the music. In the mornings the system is not operated and any maintenance is completed at that time. Even the maintenance is interesting since the crew is out on the lake in boats and scuba gear, checking on everything and replacing any equipment that needs repair.

Bellagio Fountains

In the evening they add lights to the show which really makes it spectacular. There will be literally thousands of people strolling along the tree lined street and standing watching the water show at the Bellagio. We took a hundred pictures and only have these two up to show since they were really the best ones that turned out. You have to catch the fountains at just the right moment.

The Bellagio was built by Steve Wynn who then sold it to the MGM group. He built the Wynn hotel down the street. These are by far the two nicest hotels in Las Vegas. Even if you are not staying at the Bellagio, it is definitely worth a walk to see them. The fountains, the indoor gardens and the pool area are truly spectacular and worth the visit. These hotels are by far the best in North America in terms of being spectacular and entertaining.  When you think about how they were created out of the desert, it is truly spectacular to see. The Bellagio on the former Dunes hotel site and the Wynn on another former hotel site that we do not recall.

These two are well worth the time it takes to walk to them and view. It is all free, there is no need to spend any money. Although of course they would like you to visit one of their dining rooms or try the casino. But that is entirely up to the tourist in Las Vegas.