On Monday, August 14, 2023, Vegas Advantage visited four casinos just east of the Strip. We started at Ellis Island. We also stopped at Tuscany, Mohegan Casino, and Silver Sevens.
After that, we headed to Boulder Highway. That is covered in the next article.
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Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a small casino on Koval Lane just south of Flamingo Road. The construction in the area was awful. It is on the Formula 1 track.
Ellis Island was busy for a Monday afternoon. It offers one of the best table game values in Las Vegas.
Craps has a $5 minimum bet. It has 10 times max odds. There is one $5 3/2 blackjack table. It uses a continuous shuffling machine. There are many $10 and $15 3/2 six-deck blackjack tables dealt out of a shoe. The $25 double-deck game returned since our last visit. Double zero roulette was $10.
The table game action must be going well at Ellis Island. A new pit, including a third craps table, was added to the floor since our last visit.
While table games offer a good value at Ellis Island, video poker is not great. It takes the $1 denomination to get 99% games like 9/6 Double Double Bonus and 9/7 Double Bonus. At $2, the 99.4% version of Ace$ Poker is available. It takes $5 to get the real 8/5 Bonus Poker. The $1 and $2 denominations pay 30 on all quads.
The quarter and half-dollar pay tables are largely under 97% with a few machines offering 7/5 Bonus Poker (98%). The bar games usually have the same paytables as the casino floor. However, some are a downgrade. Make sure to check out the bar paytables before playing.
Ellis Island has a single zero roulette machine that has the proper pay table. One of the few left in Las Vegas. It is located near the table games outside the entrance to Village Pub. Denominations are $1, $2, and $5.
Tuscany
Tuscany was quiet this afternoon. As we reported on Twitter last week, the casino is trying to bring table games back. It has online ads for dealers and table game supervisors. The pit was removed in early 2021. Stadium gaming and other electronic table games replaced it.
Most electronic table games have a $1 minimum bet requirement. However, 00 roulette has a $0.25 minimum. Craps pays triple on a field twelve on the heads-up versions, but not the stadium.
The video poker at Tuscany is below average for a locals casino. The 99% options are 9/7 Double Bonus, 9/6 Double Double Bonus, and 15/9 Deuces Wild.
Mohegan Casino
Mohegan Casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is on the old Hard Rock property. The street sign on the Paradise Road signal to it still has the old name. The hotel is Virgin. The branding of the property is just one of its struggles.
The casino was totally dead. It had almost no players. There were a few players in the pit and maybe ten on machines.
Craps and double zero roulette were $10. The six-deck blackjack was $15. Double-deck was $25. Pai gow, Three Card Poker, and 3/2 Free Bet Blackjack were all closed.
A Casino Wizard offers the only electronic table game options. Baccarat and craps have a $1 minimum while 6:5 blackjack and 00 roulette are $3.
The best video poker is at the $1 denomination. It comes with a progressive royal flush in a bank near the salon. The best games are at the $1 denomination. The options around 99% include 9/7 Double Bonus, 9/6 Double Double Bonus, and 15/9 Deuces Wild. Quarter players will find a progressive with games like 9/5 Double Double Bonus and 9/6/5 Double Bonus near the salon.
There are only a few changes at Mohegan since its March 2021 grand opening. The Betfred sportsbook finally opened. Crapless craps and Spanish 21 are gone from the pits.
Silver Sevens
Silver Sevens was our last stop on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip. It had a few surprises.
The pit was down to four tables on our last visit. Craps was a small bucket. The other three games were blackjack.
The pit was moved to a new part of the casino by the parking deck elevators. The size of the pit more than doubled.
The only open table was 3/2 six-deck blackjack. The minimum bet was $10. While closed, other games showed $10 minimum bets. The options are craps, double zero roulette, Three Card Poker, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em.
Video poker is below average for a locals casino. There are a few common 99% games. The $1077 royal flushes on good pay tables are a thing of the past, as first reported earlier in the last month by VPFree2.
