[frogsrangers]

Since we get threads popping up a lot asking which Vegas sportsbooks are best, I figured I throw my 2 cents in since I am a local and have been to many of them. I will open this thread with 3 reviews of different Vegas books and add to it when I feel like it.

Here is a list of Vegas Sportsbooks I have been to, and will be reviewing:

Strip
Mandalay Bay
Luxor - Post #2
Excalibur
Tropicana - Post #4
MGM Grand
New York, New York
Bellagio
Caeser's Palace - Post #3
Paris
Flamingo
Mirage
Venetian - Post #4
Treasure Island
Wynn
Stratosphere

Off Strip
LVH
Hooters
Palms - Post #4
Hard Rock - Post #4
South Point
Orleans
Sunset Station
M - Post #4
Red Rock


Downtown

None yet.

[frogsrangers]

Luxor Race and Sports Book


Size: Medium


Seating: Two sections, the section on the left has comfy blue chairs that are a bit dated but still do the job, and the section on the right is your usual desk and TV station for race bettors. The TVs are old and the picture quality is weak, but they have a good selection of channels.


Staff: Probably my favorite race & sports staff in the area, friendly and nice, not dicks like you will see at other books.


Lines: MGM Lines, so I do not recommend betting here unless you somehow get a good line here. Standard betting fare, alternate run lines in MLB.


Screens: About 3 large projector screens, and about a dozen LCD screens. The LCDs are small, so its hard to really get a good view on them, so if you want to watch a game and its not on the large projector screens, I suggest going elsewhere.


Horses: Half of the book is dedicated to horses, same screen layout as the sports side. A few large projector screens and then smaller LCDs.


Atmosphere: Quiet. Unless its something like March Madness, Super Bowl, or NFL Sundays, its pretty relaxed and laid back.


Notes: One of my favorite all time Vegas sportsbook moments happened here. Back during college hoops championship week 2012, I was on a huge run one day, and others in the book started to notice. I had hit at least 10 straight bets in a row, and even the staff at the counter was amazed. So apparently the word got out that I was Mr. College Basketball and people were coming up to me looking for advice. So that night I was on Lehigh +165 to beat Bucknell on the road for the Patriot League title. Everyone in the Luxor book at the time tailed me and placed bets on this. A rubberband play is what it was. The entire book got into it and we were all going crazy as Lehigh marched toward the victory. It was quite the fun scene.


Why Luxor?: If you are looking for a book to just sit back and relax to watch a game, without the noise and hustle and bustle of more busy books, look no further than Luxor. All you get is a nice book with comfortable chairs and none of the bullshit.

[frogsrangers]

Caesers Palace Race and Sports Book


Size: Large


Seating: I hate the seating format here. On the left side you have your usual desk and TV setup. But the problems lie on the right side, where the chairs are. Unfortunately, the chairs are all situated around round tables with TVs on them. And of course, these roundtables are usually all taken, at any time of the day, and if it looks like a roundtable is open, some cockbrain has a piece of paper with "TAKEN" laying on the table. Most of the time these so called TAKEN tables, whoever reserved them is no where to be seen for hours, so its just wasted chairs. There are no rows of chairs like at other books, its either the roundtables or the desks. But even the desks are filled with TAKEN signs, so good luck finding anywhere to sit here.


Staff: Jerks. I would say only the Wynn staff is ruder. Full of themselves, and act like they are inconvienienced when you want to place a bet, as if they have better things to do. No manners, no politeness. How do these people stay employed?


Lines: Caesers Lines, which are just as bad if not worse as MGM lines.


Screens: Many. Probably the best place when it comes to the amount of large screens. Lots of large projectors and smaller screens too.


Horses: The left side of the book has horses. Good Matrix line boards for horses and many of the tracks they are racing at.


Atmosphere: Busy and cluttered. Like I said, good luck finding a seat here unless maybe its 3am and nothing is going on. Pretty much every seat is occupied or "taken", and the place is full of self absorbed people who think too highly of themselves. Think of your typical $30,000 a year millionaire you find in Vegas, this place is full of them. The people who are stretching every last penny out of themselves just to stay at Caesers Palace and try to project a facade of them being a high roller.


Notes: Only book I have been kicked out of. Back during College Basketball season, could not find a seat anywhere, so I sat down at a table which had the usual piece of paper with TAKEN written on it. About 45 minutes later, the jerks who had this table "reserved" came back and told me to get up. I said "Oh so you own this book now?" and they started to get mad, and they got a Casino Host who told me they had it reserved, I said "They haven't even been here for the past hour" and I guess since they were in bed with the Casino Host they got security to have me removed and kicked out for making a scene. Haven't been back since.


Why Caesers Palace?: If you like being surrounded by self absorbed assholes, Jersey Shore wannabees, if you like to stand to watch games, and bet on crappy lines, look no further than Caesers Palace. The only redeeming factor of this place is that it has a good atmosphere when big games are going on, and they have a lot of large screens. But this place sucks, along with Bellagio my least favorite book in Vegas. Go elsewhere.

[frogsrangers]

Cantor Race and Sports Books

(Palms, Hard Rock, Venetian, Tropicana, M)


Size: Medium


Seating: You have to like the setup here, even if its at the expense of more seating. Rows of red/black cubbies with digital screens built in and comfy office style chairs that roll around. They are going for comfort and luxury here over quantity. Watch out for the TAKEN signs, though.


Staff: Mixed bag. It all really depends on which staff is on and which Cantor book you are at. I have noticed that the ticket writers at the counter are not the brightest bunch in the world, so it probably doesn't take a lot to get hired on here.


Screens: One giant wall to wall LCD screen that they divide up. The left half is horses, the right half is sports. Usually 2 or 3 portions of the screen are large, and the rest are smaller. But its a good setup and high tech as well.


Lines: Good, you will find 10 cent lines for baseball here and generally better odds than other Vegas properties. No alternate run lines, though.


Horses: The left side of the book is all about horses, but what I like here is that the horse betting window is smaller than the sports. A good change from the books where there are 10 horse windows open and only 2 sports windows.


Atmosphere: Pretty laid back, won't have the masses gathered around unless its NFL Sunday or March Madness. A good book to study in the cubbies for peace and quiet, but for the most part its pretty calm.


Notes: Lots of locals like to frequent these books, especially at the Hard Rock and Palms. Since I used to live close to the Palms, it was my most attended book, and I got to know a lot of faces and some regulars there. With lots of locals come lots of degens, vagrants and riff raff who are coming in and betting their unemployment check/welfare money on a 6 team baseball underdog parlay, so be prepared to deal with that as well, and guard your belongings just in case. And I'd say the busiest and most high energy, from top to bottom, are Venetian, Palms, Tropicana, Hard Rock, M.


Why Cantor?: If I could describe these books, it would be "High Tech/Modern". These books are new and definately feel ahead of the times, compared to the other books. They are going the luxury/high tech/visually appealing route here. When going here, its not really about the atmosphere or the betting options, but its about the look and feel. It also has comfy seating and great cubbies for studying and research. There is something visually and aesthetically pleasing about going to these books. Plus, they are non smoking as well, another plus.

[High3rEl3m3nt]

Frogs, I am a big fan of yours and appreciate the time you put into your posts. Keep the good work UP!!!

[milwaukee mike]

Completely agree with the friendly staff at luxor

If youre reviewing books you have to mention drink policies, lets be honest we can all bet on the internet. Customer service, drinks, friendliness should make a big difference

[frogsrangers]

Completely agree with the friendly staff at luxor

If youre reviewing books you have to mention drink policies, lets be honest we can all bet on the internet. Customer service, drinks, friendliness should make a big difference

I don't drink, so unfortunately I can't help out in this area.

[Vegas39]

Good stuff frogs. Dead on about Caesars

[frogsrangers]

Good stuff frogs. Dead on about Caesars

Makes me want to pull my hair out whenever I see someone post the Caesars book as a great book whenever someone asks for a good book to go to. They must have had a good time at the Caesers Book because they and their friends were able to strong arm their way into getting seats in the book and bullied anyone who tried to take their seats. There is no other explanation.

[VegasVixen]

Don't forgrt to mention that Cantor offers live IN-GAME betting, 1 game weekdays, 2 weekends. You can check out one of their tablets and degen every play in a game. I love playing at the Palms Pokerroom and betting live if a batter will strike out, get a single, etc!

[Grits n' Gravy]

Fros, people either pay for the tables at Caesars' books or they are comped by host due to their table/slot play.

[baskets]

good fukking shit, bro

[Brock Landers]

GREAT JOB Frogs!!

I love the Hard Rock casino when in town, the book is small, but thats fine for me. LOTS of gorgeous ass there and great music in the casino.

Outstanding effort!

[frogsrangers]

Fros, people either pay for the tables at Caesars' books or they are comped by host due to their table/slot play.

I understand that, but there is nothing there letting anyone know that this is the case.

It causes a lot of confusion.

Therefore, it is not a place for people to go if they just want to bet on or watch a game.

[frogsrangers]

GREAT JOB Frogs!!

I love the Hard Rock casino when in town, the book is small, but thats fine for me. LOTS of gorgeous ass there and great music in the casino.

Outstanding effort!

Hard Rock and Palms have the best cocktail waitresses...

[Louisvillekid1]

[Br0nxer]

good thread frogs

[70'sMan]

Another advantage for Luxor is that if you sit to the far right of the sportsbook you are beside the doors that lead to the pool. You can catch some nice views as you enjoy the game.

[Brock Landers]

I LOVED the old stardust...had the real vegas feel. Saw Jimmy Walker there in the early 2000's...

Frogs, is that place that replaced the Stardust still an empty shell?

[70'sMan]

Just another quickie comment, the Paris sportsbook is pathetic not even worth mentioning. The last time I was in MGM they were giving 1 drink ticket for every $250 in action.

[Vegas39]

I LOVED the old stardust...had the real vegas feel. Saw Jimmy Walker there in the early 2000's...

Frogs, is that place that replaced the Stardust still an empty shell?

Pretty much they have not restarted building echelon. A big eyesore now. Should've left stardust

[frogsrangers]

I LOVED the old stardust...had the real vegas feel. Saw Jimmy Walker there in the early 2000's...

Frogs, is that place that replaced the Stardust still an empty shell?

There is nothing there

[70'sMan]

There is nothing there

I agree with Brock. Loved Stardust. Young broke and dumb. Spend all say and night there then stumble to the Westward Ho for cheap food and drinks.

[milwaukee mike]

I don't drink, so unfortunately I can't help out in this area.

Yes but i think this is a large part of what makes bellagio good. Quick, good drinks with no stupid tickets.

Anyone's list is gonna be subjective but you are probably ignoring one of the top 3 things people look for in a racebook/sportsbook

[Vegas39]

I agree with Brock. Loved Stardust. Young broke and dumb. Spend all say and night there then stumble to the Westward Ho for cheap food and drinks.

The ho

We went there a few months before they closed and saw their Elvis impersonator beat the crap out of a heckler

[Vegas39]

Yes but i think this is a large part of what makes bellagio good. Quick, good drinks with no stupid tickets.

Anyone's list is gonna be subjective but you are probably ignoring one of the top 3 things people look for in a racebook/sportsbook

That is a redeeming point for Bellagio is the drink service. Writers are probably rudest in town

[jjgold]

Good stuff Frogger

Meet me out there man soon

[frogsrangers]

Thinking about watching tomorrow's games at the LVH or Hard Rock

Will want to make some 2nd half bets incase I do not do good

Sucks that 2 of the games tomorrow were cancelled, but we still got some action.

Will make some for fun action bets as well, such as teasing every game on the board for $5.

[Brock Landers]

Frogs, what do you do for work pal?? You gamble for a living?

[shari91]

great stuff frogs!

[frogsrangers]

Frogs, what do you do for work pal?? You gamble for a living?

I work at a hotel on the strip

But I only really make money betting sports during college football/basketball season and I don't make large enough wagers for the money I do make to be anything more than minor supplemental income.

Even though I was +200 units in college football/basketball combined last year, that was only about $3200 extra for me when all was said and done. If college season goes from September-March, thats only 7 months, or about $450 a month

[70'sMan]

I work at a hotel on the strip

But I only really make money betting sports during college football/basketball season and I don't make large enough wagers for the money I do make to be anything more than minor supplemental income.

Even though I was +200 units in college football/basketball combined last year, that was only about $3200 extra for me when all was said and done. If college season goes from September-March, thats only 7 months, or about $450 a month

No problem with that. It is a great way to live. You need to take up drinking though to get full effect. lol

[jjgold]

Other than Fishhead...Frogs will be our LV sportsbook consultant

[aggieshawn]

It appears the money in Vegas is selling "TAKEN" signs.

Great posts frogs.

[mcaulay777]

Great Posts from frog. Spot on with Caesars.I only go in there for the nosalgia factor.First time i went there was 1986 for the Tommy Hearns Medal fight.Thought i died and went to heaven the place is pretty much the same except i miss the seperate sports book spent so many days there from 8am till midnight the buffett was in the back where Bobby Flays place is and where the Poker room and Pure night club is was the best grill ever had great hot dogs and one of the best cheeseburgers i have ever had i think one day watching horses had 5 of them in one day.Cant stand Caesers now your right rudest personell from ticket writers to cocktail waitress there ctw are the worst.Do not spend as much time in the books as i used to i Love the Southpoint simply because it is bright im still just 48 but my eyes are not as good as they used to so i a have to go to a place that is bright and there are not two many.