Santa Fe Station is the second casino featured in my Casino Spotlight series. Plaza was the first. These casinos have something in common. Full pay Joker Poker is available at both.
Santa Fe Station is one of my favorite casinos in the Las Vegas Valley. It is located in the northwest part of the metro area, near North Rancho Road and US 95. Santa Fe Station is owned by Station Casinos.
Players will find a massive casino floor at Santa Fe Station. It has about 2,400 slots, 39 table games, a 14-table poker room, bingo hall, sportsbook and keno lounge. Nongaming amenities include a movie theater, bowling alley and more than a dozen restaurants.
Large selection of 100 percent video poker
The reason I play at Santa Fe Station is because I rank it as the best casino for video poker in the Las Vegas market. It has 17 full pay video poker machines. Most machines offer five choices. Deuces Wild (100.76%) has the highest return. I visit for Joker Poker (100.65%). Other options include Double Bonus (100.17%), Loose Deuces (100.15%) and Double Double Bonus (100.07%).
All are spread in the quarter denomination. Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus also have half-dollar and dollar games. These machines require $12 in coin-in for a Boarding Pass point. That is the players club for Station Casinos. Using your card in these machines seems to hurt free play mailers.
There are about two-dozen ‘up to 99.8%’ machines. These machines pay full points and qualify for multiplier days. The selection includes Triple Bonus Plus (99.8%), Not-so-ugly-deuces (99.73%), Bonus Poker Deluxe (99.64%) and Jacks or Better (99.54%). The denominations are quarter, half-dollar and dollar.
The best bar game is 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17%). A progressive is offered on this game.
Boarding Pass
Santa Fe Station uses the Boarding Pass players card. This is used by the Station Casinos system. Players earn 0.3 percent in cash back, comps or free play on most machines. Active players receive mailers that include more free slot play, table game bets, point multipliers, food comps or hotel offers.
Table Games
Santa Fe Station has a large table game pit. There are 39 tables. Most are blackjack. The most popular is double deck. The minimum bet is usually $5 but may go up to $10 during peak hours. There is also six-deck blackjack. Both games permit double down before and after splitting. Blackjack pays 3-2. The six-deck game adds surrender. The dealer hits soft 17 at all Santa Fe Station blackjack tables.
There is also single deck and Free Bet Blackjack available. These tables only pay 6-5 on a natural.
There are many other $5 table games at Santa Fe Station. These include Pai Gow Poker, roulette, craps, Three Card Poker, High Card Flush, Ultimate Texas Hold’em and Four Card Frenzy. Roulette is double zero. Craps offers ten times odds. The Field pays double on 12.
Sportsbook
The sportsbook has 259 seats. The wall of televisions is 96 feet wide. It was remodeled in 2016. Deposits and withdrawals for the STN Sports betting app are processed here.
Poker Room
The Santa Fe Station poker room spreads 14 tables. The main games are 1/2 no limit Hold’em, 2/4 and 4/8 fixed limit Hold’em and 3/6 Omaha Hi/Lo. There are two daily tournaments.
Dining
The Charcoal Room is the fine dining option at Santa Fe Station. It specializes in steaks and seafood. The Oyster Bar is like the one at Palace Station, just bigger. Both open at 5pm daily.
Cabo is a Mexican option. The Feast Buffet is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Grand Café is open 24 hours a day. It offers great graveyard specials.
The Sports Grill is next to the sportsbook. Capriotti’s, Fatburger, Starbucks, Panda Express, Village Pizza and Wing Stop are in the food court. The bowling alley has a snack bar.
Hotel
There are 200 hotel rooms at Santa Fe Station. That is the minimum for an unrestricted gaming license in Clark County. Rates start at $45 during the week and $100 on weekends. The resort fee is $22 per night. Rooms come with one king or two queens.
