Laughlin: Worth The "Free" Trip?

[Finn Dog]

Greetings,

I've been bombarded by Harrah's marketing to fly & stay "free" at their Laughlin property for ages now. In surveying the latest CBJN, I see the typical 6D house edge in Laughlin is frightening; however, I do see some nice 6D pen and am wondering if it can possibly overcome the big house advantages?

Therefore, wondering what you folks with local experience advise as to where to play 6D? As mentioned, I'd stay at Harrah's (if your consensus says I should go). Presume I'd need a car?

Best regards,

FD

[shadroch]

Laughlin is a pretty compact town, with almost all the action on the river. One casino is across the street from the river.
While a car is best, you can go casino to casino via water taxi. Harrahs is at the south end of "the strip", the Riverside is a little more than a mile away on the north end. There is a riverfront promenade that connects all the casinos but Harrahs. Harrahs is a good walk away from the next casino, and the terrain is quite hilly.
Harrahs has a decent 2D with $25 minimums.
Golden Nugget and Pioneer have good SD, but are very, very sweaty.
The Edgewater just got it's 3-2 games back, but is nothing special.
Riverside has an okay SD, and is where it all began.
I don't play 6D, so I can't help you with that. It's not offered in many Laughlin casinos, is it? There are virtual machines that offer 6D in the trop and aquarius. They might interest you if you are an out of the box thinker.
Laughlin, in general, is much mure enjoyable with a car. I spend about ten days there every year.

[Finn Dog]

Originally Posted by shadroch

I don't play 6D, so I can't help you with that. It's not offered in many Laughlin casinos, is it?

According to the latest CBJN, all 10 casinos now offer 6D.

[FLASH1296]

I was at Harrah's Laughlin,

They backed me off their uglified excuse for BJ after 20 minutes.

I had the nerve to be winning. I never bet anything substantial.

The Shift Manager parked himself at the table and politely "gave me the tap."

but at least I kicked ass at poker all weekend.

By the way, the crowds in Laughlin make use of the casino's R.V. Parks

I suspect that the average age in the Laughlin stores is 71.

If you are under 40 you really do stick out - for just that reason.

Laughlin is NOT a good venue.

I will never return.

[shadroch]

If I believed anything Flash wrote, his promise to never return to Laughlin would be good news.
I'm going to guess that he was never there for Bike Week, the third biggest bike run in the nation after Sturgis and Daytona. Nor for Pirates of the Colorado week,which attracts teams from every college in a few hundred miles.
In the winter, you get a lot of retired snow birds from the midwest.
The other eight months the crowd comes for the fishing and jetsking.

[shadroch]

Originally Posted by Finn Dog

According to the latest CBJN, all 10 casinos now offer 6D.

I don't believe that is correct. The Pioneer and the Trop offer only SD or DD, except that the Trop does have six deck virtual machines.

[Tarzan]

Let's not leave THAT one out! hahaha Seriously though, I noticed that I was the youngest guy in Laughlin last time I was there. Our group stuck out like a watermelon in a pepper patch! Lots of seniors favor Laughlin over Vegas because of the lower stakes action maybe? I'm not sure. I know there are lots of seniors bus trips into Laughlin also, so perhaps it's convenient and cost effective over going to Vegas.

The vast majority of people that frequent Laughlin are obviously the older crowd... the MUCH older crowd, like around 80 or so. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I am simply stating fact.

They do get jumpy and freaky if you bet any serious money, I noticed! I didn't stay there long on my last visit but it was fun and interesting. The countryside, terrain and the colorado river are scenic and interesting, making it worth the stop even if the blackjack is not all that spiffy.

[jimbiggs]

Free rooms are easy to come by in Laughlin. I've never noticed that the crowds were any older. One funny observation I have to offer...Late at night when it's dead at the Aquarius, walk over to the Riverside and that place will be packed.

There are six deck tables in all Laughlin casinos now, but they are not always open. Even River Palms has one, but I've never seen it open. Riverside changed two of it's SD tables to 6D tables for a total of three in the main pit area plus two others in the other pit. Funny how different casinos react differently to the recession.

[jimbiggs]

Originally Posted by Finn Dog

Greetings,

I've been bombarded by Harrah's marketing to fly & stay "free" at their Laughlin property for ages now. In surveying the latest CBJN, I see the typical 6D house edge in Laughlin is frightening; however, I do see some nice 6D pen and am wondering if it can possibly overcome the big house advantages?

Therefore, wondering what you folks with local experience advise as to where to play 6D? As mentioned, I'd stay at Harrah's (if your consensus says I should go). Presume I'd need a car?

Best regards,

FD

If you intend to play 6D shoes, then it's not worth the trip. If you intend to play red level SD or DD, then yes it is worth the trip. I would not want to say at Harrah's without a car, but where there's a will, there's a way. EasyRhino did it once.

[Finn Dog]

Originally Posted by shadroch

I don't believe that is correct. The Pioneer and the Trop offer only SD or DD, except that the Trop does have six deck virtual machines.

Well, this is from the latest CBJN (for convenience, I've underlined the number of decks):

Pioneer Laugh 1 .63 6 1.0 5 500 h17,ds

TropExp Laugh 3 .76 6 1.1 5 500 h17,LL10
TropExp Laugh 1 .76 6 1.1 5 500 h17

If I'm reading this correctly, I guess this is good free advertising for just getting the ongoing monthly subscription (cause you never know when they'll change something on you)!

Best regards,

FD