Plaza announced last week that it is removing all coin video poker and slots from its casino floor. The machines are scheduled to go in early October.
Plaza is giving away all coin games in its inventory. There are ten on the floor and four that are operational in storage. This is about half the number of coin games Plaza moved from Las Vegas Club when it closed. Plaza slowly removed these machines from its floor over the last four years due to breakage, lack of play or need for parts.
The coin games currently on the Plaza casino floor are:
- Dollar Catch the Heat reels (2)
- Half-dollar Joker Poker upright (1)
- Quarter Joker Poker upright (1)
- Quarter Joker Poker slant-top (2)
- Quarter Double Double Bonus slant top (2)
- Nickel Double Bonus upright (2)
I have been told by several Plaza employees that the quarter joker upright will be given to me. I am very thankful that Plaza is so generous and thoughtful to do that.
The Catch the Heat reels are probably the best souvenir out of the group. The machines were created for the late Jackie Gaughan for Las Vegas Club in the 1990’s. The baseball player’s jersey on the machine has ‘Las Vegas Club’ on it.
The pay tables are permanently on the video poker machines. It is on the top glass on the uprights and on screen stickers on the slant tops. The jokers are full pay. Double Bonus is 9/5. Double Double Bonus is 7/5. However, you may be able to toggle the pay table. It just won’t match what is on the machine.
The other four machines are in storage. Two are nickel humpback keno machines that left the floor in July. I am not sure what the other two are. I believe one is a half-dollar Joker Poker upright that is the 99.29% version. The other is probably a quarter Bonus Poker Deluxe or Triple Double Bonus upright.
How Plaza will give away the coin games
Plaza created a promotion to give away the games. It is only available to Nevada residents that have a Royal Rewards card. If you do not live in Nevada, you cannot participate in the promotion. That is because Plaza cannot allow the games to leave the state by gaming law.
Locals will have an October points race. The top eight players will win. There will also be a weekly video poker tournament for the other five machines.
If you win a machine, I feel that it is safe to say that it will be your responsibility to transport the game. I do not think you will be able to safely load it in a pickup truck. You will probably need to rent a U-Haul.
The machines vary greatly in condition. The uprights are generally in good cosmetic shape. The slant tops are a bit older but still in reasonable shape considering the age of the devices. Mechanically, it is all a gamble, as the machines are at least 20 years old.
It is sad to see the antiques leave Plaza. I have played the jokers since before moving to Las Vegas in 2010. If you are still looking for coin games downtown, you will find some at Main Street Station, Fremont, California and El Cortez. In the locals market you will find some at Jerry’s Nugget, Poker Palace, Lucky Club, Skyline, and Eldorado. I wrote a post about Las Vegas coin games last year that is still mostly accurate, except that Skyline no longer has full pay Deuces Wild.
