Las Vegas Off the Beaten Path Tips by emilienoelle

I'm including downtown under this category because I find that most people who go to Vegas never go downtown. In some ways this makes sense, as it isn't all that close to the strip. If you do go downtown and you've been staying on the strip, be prepared for a bit of a shock because although both places have casinos they are nothing at all alike.

Some people refer to downtown as the "real" Vegas, feeling that it is more authentic somehow than the newer, flashier strip casinos catering to those with a few bucks to blow. In a way I can see their point, because the casinos here are much smaller and have much lower minimum bets and tend to attract customers from a lower socio-economic background. But to me, it is just a different place all together than the strip, and equally "real"; it is sort of like a permanent carnival with it's insane lights and street vendors yelling at the tops of their lungs to induce tourists into feeding their quarters into their slots before they make it into the place next door.

The main street downtown is Fremont St which is covered by a huge canopy of lights. Every hour after dark you can catch an amazing light show here complete with rock music. It's cool. Just watch your pockets while you're looking up.

To get here, just ask any cabbie to take you. It's the easiest and safest way.

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"I've seen the gateway to Hell and it's in Las Vegas." --RGH

Binion's Horseshoe Casino is locatated on Freemont Street Downtown and from the outside looks innocent enough. But step through the veil of cigarette smoke in the doorway and you may feel as if you've been beamed down into the middle of a David Lynch film, and it's not just a bad dream.

Seriously, though, Binion's houses the biggest bunch of characters I have ever seen under one roof. This place is old-time, Wild West Vegas and is known among hardcore gamblers as a "hot bed of action", as one dentally challenged client told me on the night we were there. It is where the serious gamblers play, not the tourists. It is also the home of the World Series of Poker every spring.

Go and check it out if you make it all the way downtown. Just don't look at anyone's cards too long.

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Phone: 702-382-1600