Safe Hotels

I've seen rooms under $100 for a one night stay in LV but they're South strip or just off strip or downtown. I'm concerned about safety and ease of getting to good low limit blackjack games. I have a limited time to be there. May sleep through dinner and the rush to play early am and daytime. So, that means leaving the casino in the middle of the night and moving around at dark thirty hours. Any suggestions for a safe, reasonably priced place that fits this scenario? Also, should I avoid non-casino or Boulder Hwy locales?Thank you.

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There's nothing wrong with staying downtown, and you won't have to pay $100 a night to stay there. If you want decent low limit blackjack games, you can find them easier downtown than on the Strip anyway.

I've always felt safe downtown, although at 3 or 4 in the a.m. it's pretty lonely on Fremont Street. At the same time, if you did feel at all uncomfortable for any reason you're always just a very few steps from a casino door. Can't say the same thing if you were walking from casino to casino at that time of night anywhere on the strip.

Mostly double deck soft 17 (usually 50% penetration), little DAS, crowded tables, and no tolerance for a large enough spread. There are a couple of decent games but you must not stay there too long. I won't mention those here.

Now I know I will now face a barrage of those claiming I am wrong, but prove it to yourself. The most important thing a 21 player needs to own is a blackjack simulator which can handle all these variables (I highly recommend Casino Verite). Run the simulations for rules, table conditions, spreads; etc. and find out for yourself. You need to direct yourself to games that do not waste your time and money. They are around. Don't let wishful thinking cloud reality. Use the data you learn from the simulations to only play games that profit you.

I await the onslaught.

your simulation results for each game condition you might run into, before going to Vegas or wherever. Code the info so that it only has meaning to you incase in falls into the wrong hands.

BJ on the Strip is lousy. All the decent games, double and single deck, pay 6/5 and have high minimums. You might be able to find a 3/2 shoe, but I don't know where. Also, the tables are crowded, especially on weekends, and as someone mentioned, getting from one casino to another is difficult because of the distance.

Downtown, however, still pays 3/2 except at the Horseshoe which pays 6/5 and has very few customers as a result. You can get a number of DD games with $5 minimums (Plaza, 4 Queens, LV Club to name a few). Further down Fremont, the El Cortez and the Western have single deck games with $3 minimums. You can safely walk down there in the day time but be careful at night. Another plus about these two places is the dealers are new. They make a lot of mistakes and don't speak English. Pen is dealer dependent but usually excellent.

"you might be able to find a 3/2 shoe but I do not know where"

I think the answer is everywhere or just about everywhere. The strip has good and bad shoes. The good ones have decent penetration, S-17, LSR, DA, DAS, RSA, and split up to 4. The smaller and older places offer either $5 or $10 tables but the best rules are generally at higher betting levels. The 6/5 junk is mainly on single deck. Personally, I agree with you when it comes to playing SD games, downtown is the place. When playing a shoe game at my betting level, I much prefer the strip.

Mike G

Mike G - thanks for the info on the shoe games. I never play them much preferring single and double deck games. Good luck and have fun!