There are two types of casinos in Las Vegas, the bigger and more famous ones, lavishly built, which cater to out of tourists, and the smaller so called locals casinos, which primarily serve the greater Las Vegas population of about 2 million people.
Locals casinos often serve specific suburbs of Las Vegas, and Sam’s Town primarily takes care of the gambling needs of the people in Sunrise Manor, a Las Vegas suburb which by itself has almost 200,000 people. Sam’s Town does get a fair number of overnight visitors as well and has a 646 room hotel to go along with their 120,681 square feet of gaming space.
As a general rule, the casino action at locals casinos tends to be more player friendly, and it has to be, because patrons are more able to choose where they play since they already live in the city, as opposed to out of towners who have booked a stay at a certain hotel casino and pretty much stick to playing there.
Local gamblers in Las Vegas tend to be more selective as well, with things like better player rewards and payout percentages playing a lot bigger role in their decision making of where to play than tourists would place this. Tourists who are more interested in the quality of the casino than the quality of the other amenities will sometimes choose a locals casino to stay at as well though.
Sam’s Town opened back in 1979 and was one of the first locals casinos to open in Las Vegas to serve a growing population. Las Vegas has exploded in population ever since and now there are many such casinos in town.
Sam’s Town gets its name from Sam Boyd, the founder of Boyd Gaming, who still own the property. Boyd Gaming is a mid size gambling company now which owns and operates 22 different casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere in the country.
Sam’s Town also has sponsored the local stop for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the Sam’s Town 300, as well as being the host hotel for the event. Sam’s Town features an Old West theme.
The Amenities at Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall
The accommodations provided here are beautifully arranged and provide a comprehensive list of amenities like hair dryer and iron and ironing board, with refrigerators and high speed internet access available for an additional surcharge. The room prices here start at only $36 per night so even with some add-ons these rooms represent a wonderful value.
Travelers can decide from either a king or dual queen configuration, with larger suites also available. Rooms might be obtained with a park view for an additional $15 each night. Suites offer a different bedroom as well as more amenities including a Jacuzzi tub.
The area that you pay extra here to have a view of is Mystic Falls Park, an interior park which is enclosed in glass at a height of 10 stories, with a waterfall and a laser show which is executed numerous times daily. Relax to the rhythm of the waterfall and the sound of birds singing, and indulge in what is considered to be one of Las Vegas’ finest free shows.
Local casinos are well known for custom food at truly exceptional prices and Sam’s Town features a total of 11 diverse places to eat. There’s the normal steak house that you find at just about every casino, The Angry Butcher, serving up steaks and seafood each evening. They also offer a patio bar which is open every day from 4PM to 6PM offering drinks and small appetizers.
Local casinos always offer a stunning buffet with low prices and Sam’s Town excels with their Firelight Buffet, where your B connected card offers you breakfast for $5.99, lunch for $7.99, and dinner for $9.99.
Big Mess assures some exquisite Bar-B-Que cuisine with lots of wet naps. TGI Friday’s presents their signature meals in a fan filled environment. Sports enthusiasts will wish to check out the Sports Deli located directly next to the Race and Sports Book where you can grab a sandwich and stay up with the sports events.
There exist also multiple fast food places on hand, including a McDonalds, a Panda Express, a Subway, a Dunkin Donuts, as well as Calamity Jane’s ice cream shop, Roberto’s Taco Shop, and a snack stand situated in the bowling alley, which also features a cocktail lounge.
Sam’s Town Bowling Alley is an enormous place, with 56 lanes available 24 hours a day. Sam’s Town also highlights a cutting-edge cinema complex with stadium seating, enormous wall to wall angled screens, and THX qualified digital sound.
Sam’s Town Live is a 1,100 seat location showcasing live musical performances and other events, as well as modified to be set up to handle huge banquets. The 100 seat Roxy’s provides a more personal setting where you can catch lounge acts or move to their modern music system.
Gatsby’s Salon is present to tend to your salon desires, and you may also shop at the Logo Shop where you may pick up essentials, cigars, and keepsakes.
The Casino at Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall
The gambling hall end of this enterprise does of course figure in pretty prominently in the operation, and this is a large casino with what they call the friendliest service around. Sam’s Town does get mostly repeat business so they cannot afford to offer less than the best customer service to keep their players coming back, and they are famous for this.
Players are welcome to pick up a B Connected rewards membership if they have not done so already, which entitles you to rewards and discounts at all Boyd Gaming properties.
Boyd Gaming looks to take good care of all its players, including the smallest ones, and Sam’s Town features Boyd’s Penny Lane which rewards penny a spin players more often. There is a large selection of slots here and the quantity and quality is enough for them to earn Strictly Slots’ award of Best of Slots, as well as the casino itself earning Casino Player’s Best of Gaming award.
There are several different table games rolled out here, to ensure that players who enjoy table games, both the classics and the newer ones, are kept happy. You can play Blackjack, Craps, and Roulette, as well as Progressive Fortune Pai Gow, Let It Ride, Deuces Wild, Progressive 3 Card Poker, and Texas Holdem.
There’s also an 11 table non smoking poker room, open from 9 AM until late night. They run 3 tournaments a day with buy ins ranging from $23 to $105. Cash game players will be able to enjoy $2-$6 spread limit Holdem and $3/$6 Omaha Hi/Lo. So the stakes here are very accessible and you don’t need a big bankroll at all to play anything here.
The Bingo Room on the second floor offers 8 bingo sessions a day, with a progressive jackpot that starts at $20,000 on up. Keno is also offered here where you can get 25 games of Keno for only $20. The Race and Sports Book offers betting on sports and horse races and features 60 big screen TVs to watch all the action unfold on.
Sam’s Town may not have the glitz and glamour of the big name casino resort properties on the strip, but it does deliver very solid value, and this is why it is so popular among the residents of Las Vegas, who could play anywhere, and tend to be more in the know as well, and one of the things they know is that this is a very good casino overall.