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-Casino
Camper Update, June 2007
Overall still our favorite RV Friendly casino in Las Vegas.
Several items updated in the report below and noted as 2007.
-Casino
Camper Initial Report, May 2006
RV Park is shared by MSS and the California.
It's actually just North of the interstate overpass, on the East side of
Main Street. It's not hard to get to from either direction.
Sites are "side by side" hookups. Some
pull through sites can accommodate a 45' rig easily. 30 and 50
amp. Others are back-in and some look like about a 28' limit.
It was only 20% full this week, so we didn't
worry about our awning extending a couple of feet into the empty neighboring
space. Would work OK as long as everyone parks right, awnings should
miss each other.
Interstate is close by, it's noisy, but can't
hear it too bad with windows closed and AC on. You can get Wi-Fi in the park too,
through Cheetah Wireless Technology. It's all over Las Vegas, and
costs about $7/day, $29/wk, $39/mo. The RV park had a nice laundry
room. It was only 75 cents for a load, and the same for a dryer.
(2007 increased to $1.00 each)
So this "RV Park" is just a parking lot with
hookups. Who cares? It's only $17 a night for FHU, and if
you gamble much at all they'll comp it. Compare this to the KOA Parking Lot
at Circus Circus at $40 - $60 a night. Besides, Circus Circus and more kids per square foot than any other place in town.
We've been to MSS before, but never stayed in
their RV park. It's a nice casino with good VP, good table games, and
a very nice buffet. Probably one of the best buffets downtown, and
overall one of the nicest downtown casinos (Golden Nugget is a little
fancier and newer, but without the ambiance and charm of MSS, and MSS has
better VP).
Main Street Station (MSS)
CasinoCamper Trip Report
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June, 2006
Gambling
Video Poker
MSS is known for good video poker. They
previously had FPDW, but now the best game is 10/7 DB in
Quarters, Half's, and Dollars. If you like 9/6 JOB they
have that too. Lots of progressives, mostly on 8/5 DDB, also 8/5 BP. One
night we saw the $1 progressive up over $10,500, so I put $100 in, hit 4
deuces, and cashed out $400. MSS also has a scratch card promotion
that has gone on for a few years. Any time you get a natural
4-of-a-kind they give you a scratch ticket that's worth $2 to $5000
(although in reality I believe there were only two $5k winners ever). $2
through $5 are common, and sometimes $10. We usually had $20 to $25 a
night in scratch tickets.
Here's a link to the MSS page on
VP Free
Craps
Crap tables are in good condition and the
dealers are friendly and knowledgeable. Minimum bet is almost always
$5 and 20x odds are allowed. Field pays 3x for 12.
Food
Food overall
 
Good food and good value.
Buffet
overall  seafood
2007 update: Still a very good buffet.
If you're paying cash for a buffet anywhere in Las Vegas this is probably
one of the top 10 values. Look for 2 for 1 coupons, Las Vegas Advisor
has one.
2006 report:
We ate the buffet 3x and overall it was very
good, 4 stars on a 5 scale. The basic dinner buffet is very good, and
Quarter VP players who put in 6 or 8 hours a day can expect to eat the buffet comped
every time.
Tuesday nights are T-Bone Steak, and it was OK.
Lots of other stuff of course. Peel & eat shrimp was very good, and
we thought the Mexican foods were good, as well as the basic American
"comfort foods" like country fried steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob,
etc.. Asian foods were another matter. Noodles were old
and stiff. Dessert bar has a nice selection, including many sugar free
desserts which Chris likes.
Thursday night was Filet Mignon and Shrimp
Scampi. Shrimp were nice, and the fillet was OK. Balance of the buffet
was good again. Wine is one notch above the normal stuff served to you
on the casino floor. $4/glass $17/bottle, I had the Red Zin blend and
it was actually not bad.
Friday night was seafood buffet. We didn't
really care for it, but there were several things that we didn't eat that may
have been excellent (such as crab legs) so it's worth a try. On
the plus side, all the normal stuff was there too (the regular buffet items) and it was good.
Regarding the seafood, I had shrimp cocktail that was great, also some
Salmon Florentine that was OK. The fried "gourmet" shrimp was really
bad. It was a small shrimp beat flat, and covered in a thick, tough
batter. It was at least 60% batter and only 40% shrimp. If they
had taken those really nice shrimp from the cold side of the buffet and
breaded and fried them it would have been great!
Pullman Grill
2006: Saturday we ate at the steak house, called the
Pullman Grill. It's a very nice place with lots of beautiful carved
wood, antique furnishings, and a railroad theme with an actual dining car
along one wall. I had a crab cake, which was excellent. The
bread was a rosemary sourdough and we loved it! Both of us ordered
filet mignon which was very good. I had two glasses of the Kendal-Jackson
Merlot. All together the bill was about $80, which was comped, but a
good value even if we had to pay. In addition to steaks they also had
some interesting Italian dishes on the menu, and some seafood of course.
Service was very good. We highly recommend the Pullman Grill if you like
traditional steak house dining. 2007 update: Still a great steak
house, we ate here again enjoyed it, although the great rosemary sourdough
bread was replaced with rolls, and I forgot to ask them if this is
temporary.
777 Brewpub
2007: Imagine a great micro-brewery
located in a sports bar. Now give them an extensive menu of
sandwiches, ribs, wings, etc. Got the picture? Well
that's the Brewpub. It attracts an interesting crowd because it's
different things to different people. In our case, we're not beer
fans, so we're there for the food. The ribs are good, sandwiches
are too. Prices are reasonable if you're paying instead of being comped. Service was good.
Tony Roma's
food
service
2007: The MSS is part of a 3 casino family
downtown, including the California, and the Freemont. You can be
comped at the sister properties too when staying at any one of them.
Tony Roma's is located at the Freemont and if you've been to any of their
restaurants around the country you know it's a good place for ribs. We
enjoyed the food very much, but our waiter was impatient with us while
ordering, brought me the wrong wine, then went missing-in-action from the
time he delivered the food until the end of the meal. He was tipped
accordingly. We do recommend Tony Roma's, and we'll be back.
Market Street Cafe
2007: Located in the California, this is
their 24 hour coffee shop. Very good food, good prices, good service,
excellent example of a good Las Vegas coffee shop.
Comps
2007
update: This is still a great place for average players to be treated
very well. If you play quarter VP 4 to 6 hours a day you won't go
hungry. On this trip we received an offer in the mail for 4 nights
free and $75 free play. Chris played Quarters about 6 to 7 hours a
day, plus a little on Half's and Dollars. We ate at least one meal a
day, including one big dinner at Tony Roma's. It was all taken care
of, and I doubt we maxed out the comps but we had all we wanted.
2006: We're mostly Quarter video poker players and
usually play some each day on Half or Dollar machines too. Chris played
here daily
for 3 to 6 hours, I played daily for 1 to 3 hours. We had separate cards/accounts
but they are linked for comps. I expect we averaged $7k coin-in daily.
I also played a little Craps at around $30 a hand.
We were fully comped in the RV park, 7 nights.
Had free buffets, and a very nice dinner in the Pullman Grill. Also
picked up some goodies, a hat, polo shirt, and beach towel.
Bottom Line
We really like MSS for the VP, good comps, good
food, friendly service, hosts that you can actually talk to in person, and
good location for downtown play. We'll be back again!
Random Comments about MSS and Downtown Las Vegas
Downtown is a ways from the strip and other
areas, but I-515 runs right through and you can easily catch it to I-15 and
the strip, or head east (south) on I-515 for Henderson casinos, or to enter
the strip from the east.
No poker room at MSS, but it's a short walk to
the Plaza and Binions where poker is available 24/7/365. Binions is
the birthplace of modern Texas Hold'em and has several good tournaments each
day.
While downtown, don't forget to check out some
of the traditional stops. The Golden Gate casino has a 99 cent shrimp
cocktail that is world famous. It's been 99 cents for about 30 years,
and it's a bargain. Here's a tip -- go to the Shrimp Bar & Deli and have your shrimp
cocktail appetizer, then visit the Bay City Diner for dinner. You'll
find good food at reasonable prices. Basic stuff like beef stew, meat
loaf, etc. are always available for $4.95. There's a very nice prime
rib for $6.95, and a larger cut with a salad for $10.95. The Las Vegas
Advisor coupon book has a 2 for 1 coupon for the diner (2006)
Another couple of places worth visiting.
El Cortez has a nice old steakhouse called Roberta's, and you can get $25
off with a coupon in LVA (2006).
Of course, don't miss the
Freemont Street Experience.
The light and sound show is entertaining in the evening, and they often have
things going on all day. We've seen performers, hot-rod shows, etc.
Wi-Fi is available all over downtown (and in
many other parts of Las Vegas) through Cheetah Technologies. Just look
for their signal on your laptop. Weekly rate is about $29 and monthly
$39.
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