On June 28, 2024, Vegas Advantage visited The Strat for a 6pm show at the LA Comedy Club. We have been going there since it opened on the property in 2016. The show was the Happy Hour Variety Show. It was amusing and featured three performers, including one who was more a circus act than a comedian.
This show is available daily. There are two other daily shows. The 8pm is a national touring comedian. At 10pm, resident headliner Butch Bradley performs Thursday through Monday. He is one of our favorites. Bret Ernst covers Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10pm.
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Checking out the casino
Before the show, we checked out the casino. There were several changes. The pit by the sportsbook is gone. The craps and crapless craps tables moved to the other side of the escalators. That is where the Interblock stadium was that included hybrid craps. It is entirely gone, except for the Big Six wheel, which was out of service. However, it was back in service on a later visit.
This was the second attempt at hybrid craps at The Strat. Roll to Win was also attempted in the past. It only lasted a few months. Unfortunately, the hybrid craps games do not seem to work out at The Strat. It usually only has one dice table open, which is crapless craps.
Additional heads-up electronic table games with $2 minimums are now near the box office. Options include blackjack, craps, and 00 roulette. These craps machines only pay double on a field 12 while the other bank pays triple on a field 12. The newly installed blackjack games offer more side bets than the other heads-up and multiplayer machines.
New single zero roulette table
Another notable change was the addition of single zero roulette. It is in the high-limit room. The minimum bet is $25. It is standard single zero roulette, meaning it does not have la partage. This rule returns half of even money bets when the pill lands in the zero pocket.
The Strat offers the second cheapest single zero roulette in Las Vegas. Plaza has it starting at $15. However, Plaza increases it to $25 during busy hours.
Other table games
The Strat has a selection of other games in its pit and salon. For $10, 6/5 blackjack, double and triple zero roulette, Three Card Poker, and Heads Up Hold’em are offered. The Strat has the cheapest 3/2 blackjack on the Strip. It starts at $10 and increases to $15 during peak hours. The 6/5 and 3/2 games were $10 during our visit. Sadly, the 6/5 tables had more players. One $10 3/2 table was empty.
Craps and crapless craps had $10 minimum bet signs on. Only crapless craps was open. At 10x, The Strat has the highest craps odds on the Strip. Crapless craps is also 10 times odds. That is the best crapless craps odds in Las Vegas.
Double-deck blackjack and baccarat are $25. A $50 double-deck 3/2 blackjack game is available in high-limit. It has the same rules at the $25 one on the floor, which hits soft 17 and allows doubling down before and after splitting. There is a $100 six-deck game that stands on soft 17. It is only available upon request. Surrender and re-split aces are available in that game.
Other observations
The Strat was charging $20 for parking. Nevada license plates are free. The parking gates are a huge hassle. For some reason, The Strat decided to put the gates on a steep incline. That is tough on cars with old manual transmissions like mine and annoying for everyone.
The Strat’s third and fourth parking deck levels used to be nearly full on weekends. They were only half full during this visit, a common theme. The casino was noticeably slow, just like during previous visits since paid parking. This was the first show we saw there in a year. The parking hassle is a big reason for that.
Atomic Golf faces west
The new Atomic Golf at The Strat is struggling. The architects faced it west into the blinding summer sun. Patrons report no air conditioning or misters. One can only wonder why this significant design flaw was not caught before construction. Any local would have vetoed facing this west.
Top Golf at MGM Grand faces north. The real estate set aside for Atomic Golf does not allow it to face north. However, it could have been built facing east on the same plot.
