Has the horseshoe gotten better?

[slugr]

Last spring I hoped for the best but it sure look like it was just getting by. Has the outlook gotten better? Loved the place for 38 years. One of my first memories of Vegas!

[sonntex]

Things I don't like about the Horseshoe:
1. Delapidated parking garage, tight to maneuver
2. Dastardly small, slow elevator from parking garage
3. Decor outdated, smells old, too dark

Thing I like about Horseshoe:
Got parking pass signed by hostess eventhough we only put about $20 in a machine

When/if Harrahs converts Ballys to a Jack Binion's Horseshoe, you will see what a real Horseshoe is all about. Jack maintains a lot of control over his name brand properties eventhough Harrahs owns them. If Bally's becomes like the one in Bossier City, La. the hotel will be beautiful. Great steakhouse; the BEST food we have ever gotten at a casino. Buffet is better than average. Slots are pretty loose for the most part. Dealers are nice, helpful. Jack's place in Tunica, MS is huge. Not quite as plush, but the casino is nice. Hammond, IN casino is kind of squashed together, but still great food, huge parking garage.

:) A really nice thing about Jack, he visits his properties regularly and talks with the players. If you have a request for a new machine, new item on the menu, more tables, etc., the change just might have been made the next time you visit. He has been known to personally comp meals to people who give him good suggestions. He is really a friendly, down-to-earth (although rich) kind of guy.

I know this is more about Jack's places than the Downtown LV property, but I just had to share this.

[slugr]

I agree that he and his dad were class acts in there places but I would love to see the old place now Binions downtown make it again . That darn Becky ran it in the ground .Even lower than that!

[wildpitcher]

Actually, it's not the "Horseshoe" anymore. It is "Binions Gambling Hall". The Horseshoe signs have been taken off the building, leaving exposed wood in the corners over the doorways (at least when I was there in late July). It was really ugly and kind of sad.

Harrah's purchased the "Horseshoe" name in Nevada as part of the wheeling and dealing that went on after Becky ran it into the ground. Rumor has it they will use it on the "re-do" of the recently acquired Bally's. Harrah's also managed the Binions downtown location for a couple of years, but no longer have any association with it. Harrah's tried to introduce that nasty 6:5 blackjack there - now that just really irritated me. I really loved the sub-$5 blackjack and craps that the old Binions Horseshoe used to have.

The downtown location lives on as Binions, but not as the `Shoe. Sad really. The new owners got rid of most of the cruddy 6:5 blackjack, though. Maybe it will improve as a small independent.

[rlpal]

As an old craps player, I have to say that the new ownership has really screwed things badly. The old "Shoe" used to have the best crap games in town - 10 or 12 tables always going with hot games. Now they only have a few tables going except on weekends, and they are just pale mimics or every other crap game on the strip.

It may have been an old "joint", but what a joint for craps!

I'd like to hear from other crap shooters about where they find the good games now. So far, I've been drawn to the Stardust, but it sounds like that won't be around much longer.

[Boston_Bill]

I walked through it this summer. The tradition of the place doesnt make up for the fact that it's now too dark and dirty. I didnt stay there long.

[slugr]

Was there 4 days before it closed it was in sad shape then. Didn't surprise me it closed. Been there after still hope one of these times it's all better! 5 times now and still no luck. Like going to see an old friend who's going to die but keeps hanging on.

[frienddelilah]

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=MNTG

They are more into horse racing/slots. They have made great improvements to Mountaineer Racetrack & Gaming Resort in Chester, West Virginia after slots were approved in WV. Maybe in time they will improve Binions. MTR also owns the Ramada Inn and Speedway Casino in north Las Vegas.

By the way at the beginning they were in some sort of joint venture with Harrahs corcerning binions. I think this joint venture is now over and MTR is running the show downtown now. :confused:


I believe Harrahs has now has the right to the "Horseshoe" name brand, but MTR still has the right to use the Binions name.