Story: My visit to The Western
Billy
online and at cheapovegas.com, I had to finally see the Western Hotel for
myself. This place was definitely "Real America"!
(For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, it is a term that my
friends and I use. The only way I know how to define it is this: There is
the America that Hollywood, TV, commercials and the media portray. Then
there is "Real America" which is filled with uneducated, irresponsible,
dirty, drug-addicted, alcoholic, etc, people. Now, you do not have to meet
all of these requirements to be "Real America." For instance, if you see
someone that is merely being obnoxious, you could say, "Wow, that's Real
America.")
I visited the Western during the day, thinking that would be a better choice
than at night. The preparations for my trip included: removing my watch,
emptying my wallet, leaving all of this in the safe in my hotel room, and
placing 2 five-dollar bills in my wallet and my ID.
Now, my visit took place on my last day in Vegas, so I was a little tight
for time. Instead of walking down Freemont street, I drove my rental.
During my drive, I could describe the neighborhood only as
"dangerous-looking." I feel like I missed out on something by driving,
though. I hear that the walk down Freemont toward the Western at night can
get really interesting. The liquor stores and pawn shops definitely made it
a slice of Real America.
When I got to the parking lot of the western, the first thing I noticed was
that there was, indeed, a parking lot. I expected that I would have to
street park my vehicle! This definitely exceeded my expectations.
The sign for the Western was just the best! It said "The Western" and below
it "Bingo". That made me laugh that this place was known for bingo. I
think I expected the sign to be fluorescently backlit... like the sign for
Wal-Mart or home depot. After these observations, I parked my car and got
out. As soon as I got out, I noticed the most fancy car in the lot. A
brand new 2004 Ford Focus. Wow, what the heck was I doing earlier that week
drooling over Porsches and Ferrari's at the Venetian when this was clearly
the place to be for high rollers with "bling" rides?!
On my way to the door, I noticed that this place was "open air", much like
slots-o-fun. There is just one big entrance with no door. This surprised
me. I really did expect some sort of aluminum door with glass paneling like
on some back-alley liquor store. I continued in to find that the floor was
not carpeted. In fact, they are tiled with fake-wood-looking linoleum
tiling. I assume that this flooring surface for installed due to its
resistance to puke and easy clean-up. Additionally, the room was
luxuriously lit using fluorescent tube lighting. Someone ought to tell the
Bellagio that incandescent is out and fluorescent is in! After all, if they
can't compete with the Western... who can they compete with?
The first thing I wanted to do was play some dollar blackjack. However, I
found all 4 tables to be packed! So I waited.... During my wait I noticed
some Asian guy who could barely speak English split 7s against a 10. That
wasn't enough to make me laugh. However, I burst out uncontrollably when I
saw him stay on a 10 against a 6!!! I couldn't believe it! I thought that
this was by far the worst blackjack play I had ever witnessed in my life
until the dealer broke and he was paid. Perhaps this man was the most
sophisticated card-counter of all time and he knew the 10s were coming and
that the dealer was likely to bust. I'm surprised he didn't get heat for
that because he should have averaged at least 6 or 7 dollars an hour
counting cards at that single deck game. The Western cannot allow these
kinds of losses! Eventually an older gentleman got up in disgust after his
entire bankroll of $10 was wiped out. I took his seat at the blackjack
table and was fortunate enough to be seated next to a hooker. Strangely
enough, she was the most well dressed patron in the casino.
I bought in for an entire $10, an amount that made some of the players
jealous. I never got to touch a green chip, but I did notice that I bought
in for more green chips at the Rio than the tray at the Western contained!
During my play, I got to do all the stuff I never wanted to at $25 per hand.
I split 10s against anything... I took insurance for $0.50 using two
quarters. I placed a $0.25 bet for the dealer, slapped the spot and yelled,
"dealer's in the game!" I was having a blast and somehow, after 30 minutes
of stupidity, I managed to win $1!
My next stop was the penny slots in the back of the casino. I was happy to
see that most of then still accepted and dispensed copper coins. After all,
the Gold Spike has removed many of the penny-accepting slots in the
Coppermine. Luckily I got to play those before they were removed. Anyway,
back to the Western. I put a $1 bill that I had gotten from my blackjack
winnings into a penny slot and cashed out. I then walked around with the
bucket of pennies playing a penny here and there. One woman instructed me
to play full coin in order to do as well as possible. I paid no attention.
Instead I kept playing the slots. Eventually, with half my bankroll gone, I
decided to start playing full coin. Wouldn't you know... that old slot
jockey was right! I hit a big one and was now up $0.10. I was starting to
wonder when they would comp me a room! I took this $0.10 and played some
video poker for a penny per hand. Losing $0.09, I decided to walk away a
winner of $0.01.
I quickly cashed out and continued to look around. I found that there were
several people playing bingo. The bingo area was pretty large. There were
plenty of "Real America" playing this game on folding chairs and folding
tables! This was enough for me... I took my $11.01 and left.
I feel this experience was the most rewarding of this trip. I got to visit
the domain of "Real America." I feel saddened that this property was just
purchased by Barrick gaming. I hope they keep it the same or make it even
worse. Next time, I hope to enjoy some complimentary grub at their snack
bar an use their toilettes. Maybe these experiences will live up to the
filthy standard that the rest of the casino has set as precedent.
-Billy Blackjack
Scooter
Barrick is palnning on redeveloping the entire property and market it
to the Latino market.
Regards