The Wildfire on Fremont opened around noon on Friday, February 10, 2023. It is a brand operated by Station Casinos, a part of the publicly-traded Red Rock Resorts. We visited around 3pm for a few hours.
The new Wildfire fills a void where no casinos existed. It is located just south of Charleston Blvd at 2700 East Fremont. The casino is about halfway between the Fremont Street Experience and Boulder Station. It is about three miles east of The Strat.
There are about 200 machines at Wildfire on Fremont. The main attraction, in our opinion, is the bar. It is one of the nicest we have seen at the neighborhood Station Casinos properties. There are ample televisions for every angle. Most of the seating around the bar has video poker and keno. Some of the machines have slot titles, blackjack, and roulette. Most are Game Kings. A few are Aristocrat, starring the popular Buffalo slot.
Of the 200 machines, I estimate about 140 are slots. There are five electronic table game machines. The rest are video poker. There is also a small sportsbook, an IHOP, and Tacos El Pastor.
Wildfire on Fremont grand opening promotions
There are two major promotions to celebrate the opening of Wildfire on Fremont. The first is a $10,000 prop freeroll on the Pro Football Championship, sometimes referred to as the Super Bowl.
The other promotion is 10 times Boarding Pass Points on slots and video poker for the first 10 days the casino is open. February 19, 2023, is the last day for the 10 times point multiplier. At slots, this means your points return will be 1%. At video poker, it is 0.5%. Swipe your Boarding Pass card at a kiosk for this promotion.
If you usually play at the nearby Boulder Station, you may want to check out Wildfire on Fremont to see if you can increase your return. The same can be said of the other casinos toward the north end of Boulder Highway. You should definitely check out Wildfire on Fremont if you regularly play at taverns near it. The games and promotions here are likely to be better.
Best games to play at Wildfire on Fremont
One of my favorite games is heads-up bubble craps. Wildfire on Fremont has four of these machines with a $1 minimum bet. It has double odds. The field pays double on 2 and 12. The pass line and come have a 99.22% return when double odds are taken at every opportunity. These machines require $12 for every slot point. That is six times slower than standard video poker. The game is excluded from the 10 times points promotion.
One advantage this craps machine has is that it takes a little more than three rolls on average to resolve the pass line or come bets. This lowers the coin-in when compared to video poker. It is one of the reasons I like this game so much.
The only other electronic table game is quarter 00 roulette. It has four seats that all share the wheel. Video craps and roulette are in front of the IHOP.
The best video poker game that I found is 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17%). The others in that range are 9/7 Double Bonus (99.11%), 9/6 Double Double Bonus Poker (98.98%), and 15/9 Deuces Wild (98.91%). These are available at the $1 denomination on the casino floor. The machines are mostly around the IHOP entrance.
Point multiplier tip: If you play 8/5 Bonus Poker during the 10 times multiplier days, it is the same as playing the top pay table for the game that awards 35 coins on all quads. The difference is the lower variance simply getting the Boarding Pass Points instead of needing quads to get there.
Video poker variants and bar
I was unable to check out the pay tables on most of the video poker variants. I found Wheel Poker, Ultimate X Bonus Streak, Split Card, Super Triple Play, and Super Times Pay. The casino was busy. Most of the seats at video poker variants were taken.
The best bar game at the quarter and half-dollar denominations that I found is 6/5 Bonus Poker (96.87%). It goes to 7/5 (98.01%) at $1. There are also $2 and $5 denominations at the bar with the same pay tables as $1. The quarter and dollar denominations have a royal flush progressive. The others do not.
Wildfire on Fremont service is exceptional
The highlight of the property is the bar. The service from bartenders was great. They made sure everyone had a full drink. We ate at IHOP. I had not been to one in years. It was good. Our server seemed like she was still learning the system, which is understandable for the first day open. She was always polite and came by several times to check on us.
We did not try out Tacos El Pastor. Kristina does not like that type of food. I will return to try it out when I am in the neighborhood. I hear it is great.
We were emailed free slot play the following day
The day after our visit, Kristina and I both received $5 in free slot play. It is available four times over the next six weeks. I believe this is a good way to get guests to return since I think it is a safe assumption that many patrons had never been to a Wildfire. This encourages re-engagement. While Wildfire and the major Station properties share the Boarding Pass card, I believe that the mailers are separate.
I can’t wait to see Durango Station
One aspect of the Wildfire on Fremont opening that I thought about is how Station Casinos probably has the best locals market data of any company. The group knows what players in and around the neighborhood want. I suspect that data will come in great use when the much larger Durango Staton opens. That will be on the southwest side of the Las Vegas Valley. It should open in late 2023.
