We visited five casinos on Thursday, September 21. The properties are Cannery, Ojos Locos, Poker Palace, Jerry’s Nugget, and Arizona Charlie’s Decatur. The first four casinos are in North Las Vegas. Arizona Charlie’s is a few miles west of downtown Las Vegas.
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Silver Nugget remains closed
Silver Nugget is in the same area. However, it has been closed since mid-August. Management says there are severe electrical issues on the property that require an indefinite closure.
Cannery
Our first stop was at Cannery. It offers tremendous value at table games. The minimum bet is $5 for most tables. This includes craps with 10 times odds, Roll to Win Craps with double odds, 3/2 double-deck and six-deck blackjack, 6/5 single-deck blackjack, Wild Five Poker, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em.
Double zero roulette has an unusual $6 minimum. It is $10 for Face Up Pai Gow Poker.
It also has two electronic table game options. Heads-up craps and multiplayer 00 roulette have a $3 minimum.
The video poker selection is average for a locals casino, maybe a little below average for one of this size. There are two banks of “Up to 99.8%” machines. The games include Triple Bonus Plus (99.8%), 16/10 Deuces Wild (99.73%), 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe (99.64%), and a few obscure Aces and Faces games that return about 99.5%. The denominations are quarter, half-dollar, and dollar.
Most other video poker machines have 98% pay tables like 7/5 Bonus Poker, 9/5 Double Double Bonus, and 9/6/5 Double Bonus. There are some quarter 8/5 Bonus Poker machines with a progressive on the floor. A few banks have it without a progressive at $0.50 and higher. These machines also have 9/6 Double Double Bonus and 15/9 Deuces Wild.
There are a few video poker variants at Cannery. These include Hot Roll, Super Hot Roll, Ultimate X, Ultimate X Bonus Streak, Powerhouse, Spin Poker, and 3/5/10 Play. The bar games are mostly terrible.
Ojos locos Sports Cantina y Casino
Our next stop was Ojos locos Sports Cantina y Casino, formerly Lucky Club. The property had table games until March 2020. It dealt the last $1 3/2 blackjack game in Las Vegas. There are two electronic table games. Heads up video blackjack pays 6/5. There is also heads-up bubble craps. Both are $1.
Many video poker machines are in bad shape. The same can be said of the pay tables. We found nothing playable. The best game seems to be 6/5 Bonus Poker. We did not find any video poker variants, except on bar machines. Those are the typical All Star ones like Ultimate X, Spin Poker, Super Times Pay, and 3/5/10 Play.
Poker Palace
Poker Palace has the cheapest 3/2 blackjack game in Las Vegas. It is $3 six-deck. Players may double down on two or three cards, making it one of the best blackjack games in Las Vegas. There is also an even money $2 double-deck game.
The video poker is unplayable across the board. The best game we found is 6/5 Bonus Poker. There are no video poker variants available. There is a poker room that is only open on weekends.
Jerry’s Nugget
Jerry’s Nugget offers great value at video poker and in its table game pit. The best video poker games are 16/10 Deuces Wild (99.73%), 9/5 White Hot Aces (99.57%), Loose Deuces (99.2%), 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17%), and 9/7 Double Bonus (99.11%). The White Hot Aces pay table is rare. The NSUD game is only available in quarters. The others go from quarter to $2. Full-pay Jacks or Better has been gone since the coin games were removed more than a year ago.
There are several video poker variants at Jerry’s Nugget. This includes Ultimate X, Triple Play, Five Play, Ten Play, 50 Play, and 100 Play. None have 99% or better pay tables.
In the pit, double zero roulette starts at $2. Heads Up Hold’em is $2 or $3, depending on the time of day. Craps, double-deck blackjack, and six-deck out of a continuous shuffling machine are all $5. All blackjack at Jerry’s Nugget pays 3/2.
Arizona Charlie’s Decatur
Arizona Charlie’s Decatur is another value casino. It offers great games in its pit and at video poker.
The pit has $5 Heads Up Hold’em and 00 roulette. There is $10 craps with five times odds. Players will also find $10 3/2 double-deck and six-deck blackjack.
Arizona Charlie’s Decatur deals Emporers Challenge Pai Gow Poker. One table was $10. The other, which was not open, showed $5 for the minimum bet. That is the first time in a year that I saw a $5 pai gow table.
There are four machines by the north entrance with 99.9% versions of Deuces Wild, Joker Poker, and Double Double Bonus. You can also play full-pay Triple Double Bonus Poker on these machines. Otherwise, the best game we found is 9/7 Double Bonus and 9/6 Double Double Bonus. Those two games are available in one up to 100 hand versions.
We did not find any video poker variants beyond multi-hand. The options there are Triple Play, Five Play, Ten Play, 25 Play, 50 Play, and 100 Play. The 25 and higher hands go from penny up to dime denominations. Up to Ten Play, it is nickel, dime, and quarter.
