I Love Station Casinos

I just love playing at the Station Casinos. The atmosphere is different from the strip casinos. The staff and the visitors are fun and friendly. When you sit down, don't be surprised that the person sitting next to you will smile and wish you good luck. Before you know it, you both are cheering each other on to win, swapping gambling stories, telling each other a little bit about life and generally enjoying your visit. Its geared to locals, but it has a nationwide

following.

I got into Station Casinos because of friends who live in Las Vegas. I'd have never left the strip if they hadn't dragged us off. We hit Boulder Station and then made the loop north to Texas Station down to Sunset Station. My husband and his buddy went one way, we girls went the other. I saw games I'd never seen before and something I didn't see as much on the Strip, actual jackpots! And the food...wow! Great prices and huge portions in the cafe. We rate the buffets 4 yums. And if you walk out with a fist full of cookies, no one will say anything as long as you are munching on them.

Love the rooms at the Green Valley Ranch. Great big bathrooms reminds me of the bathrooms at the Venetian! Very luxe. And every time you go to hotel valet to get your car, they'll hand you ice cold bottles of water. Nice touch!

The rooms at Red Rock Station will rival any of those 4 star rooms on the strip.

Red Rock Station Casino

My new favorite Station to stay at is the Red Rock. I love- love- love all the crystals. This place is luxe. Just be prepared if they tell you your room is down the hall, its DOWN the hall maybe a quarter of a mile. You'll walk off that buffet just going back to the room, so its OK to do double deserts. Bose radios in the room, plasma TV's, this is the good life. In fact, Britney Spears hid out here after one of her spats with her then husband.

The last time we stayed at Red Rock, there was a band practicing in the Rocks Lounge. I was playing my Little Lucy game and rocking out. I kept saying...that band is amazing, they sound just like the Average White Band. Good cover band. Duh, I should have read the massive sign...it WAS them! I felt like it was my own private concert. Those guys can still rock, they actually sound better live!

My husband likes Red Rock for one reason. He sat down to play the dollar slots, put his card in and before he even spun, over $350 from one of their fast hit jackpots that ties all the Station Casinos together. He was hooked. And during our stay, he hit close to $800 on that same promotion. Put in card, win. Play their money. He loved it.

Men like to play at Boulder Station because it has that "manly" atmosphere with wooden floors and low limit tables. Yeah, it does have ugly rugs, but the plank flooring is cool. I like it because I can find the restrooms. After being hopped up on 4 high octane Starbucks coffees, it helps to know their location. I sat down to play video poker on a triple double machine and hit 4 aces and a kicker for a thousand dollars followed by 10 other set of quads in two hours! Like that will ever happen on the strip!

Boulder Station

One of my local friends won 50 grand...yes, 50 grand on a Zorro penny machine at Boulder. Is her picture on the wall? Nooooo, she was having a bad hair day! LOL!

I was dragged kicking and screaming (well, not literally, but close) from Red Rock a few weeks ago. We needed to get back to our hotel on the Strip because of an early morning flight home. Dang, I want to go back now!

How To Act Like A Vegas Local

The interesting thing about the Las Vegas locals is that most of them are not native. They've moved to Vegas from another state or country. After a suitable amount of time, they've gone from visitor to local. And every one has a great story to tell if you take the time to listen.

The first thing is that you never refer to Las Vegas as Las Vegas. Its just Vegas. And then you refer to certain areas as Summerlin, Green Valley or Henderson. Even though they are attached to Las Vegas, I mean Vegas, they'll tell you that they don't live in Vegas, they live in Green Valley. And they say it proudly!

You'll have to complain about the Strip. You'll have to make sure you tell everyone that its been years since you've been to the Strip and you only go there to see the new hotels. And of course, your trump card....you'll HAVE to complain about the traffic on the strip.

You'll hang out at the local casinos, which, truth be known, are a lot more fun than the Strip casinos. You'll know the dinner special every night at the cafe and when its seafood night at the buffet. You'll never miss the free gift days at the Station Casinos. You'll know who is appearing in the showroom and the amphitheater and you'll probably have free tickets. You know everyone who works there and you know about their families. You know the person whose picture is on the winners wall and you have your own jackpots to brag about.

You have a smile and a welcome for every tourist. Dog gone it, you are so proud of your city. And you are a winner, because you get to call Vegas home.

The Vegas Virgin

Everyone who has been to Las Vegas has been a Vegas Virgin. You can spot a Vegas Virgin immediately. They are the ones who get off the plane and immediately complain about the heat. (Yeah, but its a DRY heat!). They have that "look", slack jawed, wide eyed and are raring to go.

You see them walking the strip in 110 degree heat. There's the middle aged tourists: The women are armed with a fanny pack and a shopping bag full of 5 for $10 tee shirts. The men have a camera dangling from their neck, sandals on with socks and their face is beet red from the heat. Both have indigestion from too many buffets. How long can they walk? How far will they walk? Where are they going? Why are they walking when they can take a taxi or the Deuce?

There's the younger party crowd, who headed to Vegas for action. The girls are scantily dressed, wearing flip flops, designer sunglasses and a toting a beer. Her male escort has on a college t shirt, khaki shorts and is carrying a 3 foot drink in one hand, a beer in the other. Both are talking on cell phones trying to make plans for the evening. Clubbing, perhaps?

Then there are the roving gangs of loud college guys, drinking, gambling and running in a pack. They are feeding off each other, ogling girls and acting obnoxious. Here's a tip guys, the hot girl you are checking out may NOT be a girl. Its Vegas, Baby!

On the plane home, they are disheveled, exhausted, hung over, sunburned and look like something the cat hocked up. They've got on sunglasses and ball hats, trying to shield their eyes. We know what you've been up to, we can smell the alcohol.

The moral of the story, SLOW DOWN. You can't do it all. Its supposed to be a fun vacation. No one with half a brain bakes at the pool in July's triple digit heat without sunscreen or walks the strip for hours on end in that heat. No one drinks from sun up to sun up just because they can without feeling like total crap for days after they return home. And no one eats and eats and eats at a buffet because they want to get their money's worth. But a Vegas Virgin tries..and pays for it. Because once you've lost your Vegas virginity, you'll go back to Las Vegas with your brain engaged. Sure, you'll drink, eat, walk, hang out at the pool, gamble, stay out all night and party. But you'll do it in moderation. And it will be WAY more fun.