There is no shortage of fun to be had on the Vegas strip. Getty Images
Las Vegas is kind of a home away from home for me. The station sends us on several trips a year for major fights, and I have gone countless times for poker and horse racing tournaments over the years.
The shootings that happened Oct. 1 were beyond horrific. Our hearts go out to everyone involved. I had several friends at the concert and know the area very well. It was sad, tragic and awful.
If you have a trip set up and still plan to go, there is no shortage of things to do. Consult this guide if you 1) are going for the first time, 2) have not been in a while, or c) have been many times but want to try something different. This isn't meant to be all-inclusive. This is just a look at the places I like to go when I am there. (I have a strong preference for the MGM properties).
My trips to Vegas are pretty routine. Usually I get in late and catch a 10 pm-midnight poker tournament somewhere, then get in a run on the strip in the morning, followed by a morning poker tournament and some horse/sports book time. Then we do the show, rinse and repeat. I always stay on the strip, and I don't do clubs or strip bars.
I will be adding an NHL game or two to the routine now that the Golden Knights are a reality. That T Mobile Arena is an absolute palace.
With all that in mind, here is a list of must-dos for the degenerates in all of us:
Food and beer
There is no shortage of overpriced, average food on the strip. You can pretty much assume any restaurant poking out of a casino on the strip is going to have bad service, cost too much and have average food. There are, however, some exceptions:
Burger Bar, Mandalay Bay. I hit this place up a couple times per trip. The burgers are excellent and a fair price for what you get. They also have an outstanding beer collection. My favorite lunch/dinner spot in Vegas.
Peppermill. You have seen it in countless movies, most notably Casino. Fantastic, old-school atmosphere. It's a great breakfast place, but the lines on weekends are ridiculous, so if you can, go during the week. Order one omelette for two people — they are massive. It's at the far end of the Trump side of the strip, so quite the walk from MGM Grand, where we usually stay. But there is a monorail that will get you there.
Hooters. Before you laugh, they have a $9.99 prime rib special. It is very solid for the price and a nice, inexpensive supper option.
Public House, The Venetian. Another place with an outstanding beer collection and really decent food. A little overpriced but this is the best place on that end of the strip.
Gallaghers, New York York. This is an excellent high-end steak house. It's actually very affordable for what you get and makes a nice date night place.
Beerhaus. A new addition near T Mobile Arena. They offer a really good beer menu and decent food.
Race and sports books
In truth, any strip casino is going to have a good race and sports book. If you have a choice, however, and don't mind walking, these are my five favorites:
Moneyline, Park MGM. Brand new, this place is awesome. It is a perfect sports bar with betting and you can catch all the games. A must on that side of the strip.
Lagasse's Stadium, Venetian. This is simply a palace and a terrific place to watch college football or the NFL. Warning: Get there early. It fills up fast. They also have a second sports book in the Venetian that is amazing as well.
Mandalay Bay. I spend a lot of time at this casino between the Burger Bar and the poker room. The race and sports book is first-class and well worth your time.
MGM Grand. An old-school, quality book, this is where I have spent most of my time over the years. Also, if you have a wagering ticket, you get complimentary drinks. Many places have gone to the method of giving a drink coupon for a certain amount bet. That doesn't really impact me — I bet enough races to stay flush on drink tickets — but it can be a pain. You don't have to worry about that at MGM.
Bally's. If you are a horse player, Bally's book is for you. It's an old-school setup but it is heaven if you are betting on the ponies. A lot of places shuffle the horse players off into a corner. Not Bally's.
Excalibur. This one is a little underrated. They do have the drink coupons, which is a pain, but the staff is friendly and it is right next to the poker room, so you can get some bets in while playing cards.
Poker rooms
Like sports books, almost every casino on the strip has one, and it just depends on what you are looking for. I generally like to play tournaments, but because of our show schedule we are usually unable to play anything but small dollar tourneys ($40-$85). Cardplayer has a daily schedule of tournaments you can check out here.
When I play cash in Vegas, it is almost exclusively the 2-5 at MGM Grand.
For years, the Bellagio was the place to be. At one time they had daily $500 tournaments and a $1,000 on Friday. They have scaled that back. They now have a daily $125 tournament at 5 pm, which is still very good (unfortunately the show ends at 5 pm so I never get to play them). The Wynn also has some nice tournaments from $125-$225 buy-ins.
For late-night tourneys, it depends on which end of the strip you are on. If you are on the MGM side, then you have lots of options. The MGM has two tourneys a night with good structure. Excalibur has an underrated tournament. Mandalay Bay has a 10 pm $65 buy-in that usually only draws 10-12 players so it is essentially a sit 'n' go (and easy money).
On the other side of the strip, Venetian has two poker tournaments daily at noon and 7 pm with buy-ins ranging from $125-$300.
Usually I will bounce between MGM, Mandalay and Excalibur when on that side of the strip and Venetian on the other. Golden Nugget has a nice room, as does Aria, but I have rarely stayed either place.
Good luck on your next trip.
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It would be kind of funny if Christian Walker simply decided he wanted to check out what the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is all about. “Ow, my left oblique feels kind of sore. How about sending me to Houston for the weekend to get an MRI?” That would be quite a bodacious move, and total bull (props to you if you see what I did there). Of course, faking pain is not the case, and the Astros now cross their fingers that their 60-million dollar free agent signee doesn’t start his Houston tenure on the injured list. It certainly isn’t encouraging to know that Walker missed about 20 percent of last season with a left oblique injury. In 2021 he spent two stints on the IL because of right oblique problems. Obviously the Astros want return on their investment as quickly and as substantially as possible, but they would be fools not to treat this conservatively. Walker turns 34 years old the second day of the regular season. No one should be having night sweats just yet over the possibility that Walker is about to become Jose Abreu 2.0. Abreu was 36 when he debuted with the Astros. However, it is accurate to note that Abreu had a significantly higher WAR in his last season before joining the Astros than did Walker.
If Walker turns out to be sidelined for a month, that would mean the Astros need a first baseman for the first week and a half or so of the regular season. Let the drumbeat for Cam Smith begin! The sample size remains laughably small, but Smith continues to speak softly and swing a very, very big stick. If you’ll accept a .636 batting average as pretty good. It’s only 11 at bats. But yowza! If Walker is to be down into the regular season, and Smith keeps rocketing line drives in the Grapefruit League, the plot thickens. Smith only has 19 at bats above single-A. That’s 19 more than Albert Pujols had when the St. Louis Cardinals decided to have him in their lineup to begin the 2001 season. Albert did fairly well. He’s merely the greatest first baseman in National League history.
The much more conservative approach would be a platoon with Jon Singleton in the lineup against most right-handed pitchers and whoever is not catching between Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini playing against lefties. Zach Dezenzo would be another option. Cam Smith is not an option to play first base, at least not early in 2025. Just in the last few days, he’s started doing some outfield drills because of the possible pathway to the big club in right field that I wrote about last week. Cam Smith is not going to make a huge jump to the big leagues and basically try to learn a new position on the fly there. However, Isaac Paredes owns a first baseman’s glove. Paredes started 13 games at first for the Rays last season. He made 40 starts total at first over the last three seasons, his only big league starts at first, after a grand total of two at first in the minors. Paredes temporarily moving to first would open up third base for Smith. Just sayin’...
What's in a name?
File this more under trivial than trivia, but here goes. When Isaac Paredes takes the field in the season opener, he officially becomes the third Paredes in Astros’ history. Utility man Jimmy Paredes got some run during the franchise deep in the abyss stage from 2010-13. Relief pitcher Enoli Paredes got 32 1/3 innings in over three seasons 2020-22. There have been only six guys named Paredes in MLB history. Come March 27 the Astros will have had half of them.
On the farm
MLB Pipeline this week released its in order ranking of the Astros’ top 30 prospects. Cam Smith is the obvious number one. Brice Matthews is number two. Drafted as a shortstop, Matthews has a better route to the bigs as a second baseman, given the Astros’ weak depth chart there with Jose Altuve becoming primarily a left fielder. Outfielder Jacob Melton is third. Considering the present state of the Astros’ outfield and that Melton turns 25 this September, if worth a darn, he should play his way on to the 26-man roster at some point this year. Catcher Walker Yanek ranks fourth. He was the Astros’ first round pick last July. Dezenzo rounds out the top five.
We’re under three weeks until Opening Day. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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