Lev Lazinskiy

Casinos of Carson City

A trip to Nevada would not be complete without losing money playing Craps at various Casinos. Carson City is is no short supply of gambling houses, slot machines, and bright neon lights. Even places that are not “officially” casinos, such as gas stations and convenience stores, have slot machines inside. I checked out a handful of Casinos while I was in town and while most of them are much smaller than any Casino in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, they each have their own special charm.

First, I stopped by Casino Fandango since it was situated directly next to the hotel where I was staying. It is a large venue, and Carson City’s newest Casino. There were not a lot of people there for a Friday night but they had a live cover band playing that was surprisingly great. The casino is 80% slots and video machines. They have a small area for table games and craps, and no poker rooms. The craps table was closed which was a blessing in disguise.

Next I drove about 2 miles north to Downtown Carson City which is home of two casinos that could not be more different. The first, Cactus Jacks, is a depressing, small, dark, and smoky place that only has slot machines. I played a couple rounds of video poker, won ten cents, and decided to cash out. The machine broke at this point and I got to witness how to fix a slot machines printer first hand which was super exciting.

Once the machine was fixed, I left and for the first time in my life I walked out a casino without losing any money. I walked across the street to the Carson City Nugget. This is Carson City’s oldest casino, and it a pretty nice place. They had a couple more table games than Fandango, but they were roughly the same size. The Nugget had some folks playing craps so naturally I joined in. Playing craps in Carson City is a whole different world compared to Vegas or Atlantic City. I can’t tell if this is good or bad, but the end result is the same. I left the Nugget $40 poorer, but made that $40 last for almost two hours which was the most fun that I have had playing Craps in a long time.

The next day I went to a couple more Casinos. Gold Dust West was one of the few casinos in town with an attached hotel. Overall it was a nice and clean casino. Max Casino was one of the busiest that I have been to, all of the table games were closed and looked like they have not been staffed in months. The really annoying thing about Max is that they don’t have a cash machine to redeem  your winnings. You have to stand in line to see one of the two cashiers. Bodines was one of the cleanest casinos that I’ve ever been too. It was well lit, lively, and people in there seemed very happy. The only downfall is that they only have slots.

People who like Gambling would probably not chose Carson City as a destination, so it seems like the casinos make most of their money from the locals. Out of the several that I visited, Fandango was my favorite.