Brian Christopher took to Las Vegas last week to celebrate his birthday the best way he knows how – with fellow gamblers! I took Brian’s Birthday as the perfect opportunity to head back to Las Vegas to reconnect with friends, mingle with some Rudies, and try my luck.
Right off the bat, I knew I was in for a great time because the event was held at one of my favorite places on earth, Downtown Las Vegas at the iconic Plaza Hotel & Casino. If you’ve read any of my Flip The Switch pieces, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I am one of Downtown’s biggest, and most vocal, supporters.
When Brian is in town, at least for me, the energy of Fremont Street only gets amplified. The lights and sounds are primarily the same, with the exception of more outbursts of “rude,” but there is something truly special about running into people you’ve known for years around every corner.
For Brian’s birthday nearly 300 people packed the showroom to participate in a Mega Group Pull on Piggy Bankin’ Break In. Before the group took to spinning to see if they were going to be victorious they were able to dine on a buffet of Italian food or enjoy a drink. After a few rounds of meatballs, it was time to hit the game and see what was in store. No spoilers, that video will be coming soon!
Like with any Brian event, the biggest draw for many, myself included, is the overwhelming sense of community. While Brian isn’t able to be on the slot floor the entire day of an event, there is almost an 100% guarantee you’ll be able to find at least a dozen Rudies roaming around at any given time. Of course, a lot of the Rudies can be found in Plaza’s non-smoking room but we also make our way around Fremont Street and some adventure to The Strip and beyond.
As a self-proclaimed “Downtown Rat,” I stick exclusively to the Downtown area- Fremont Street and The Art’s District. On this trip, I of course concentrated my play at the place that I stay. Ever since I moved away from Vegas, I always stay at Plaza. I am able to reserve a Pool Suite which allows me to slow my gambling because I will willingly head up to my room to take a break on the private patio. I absolutely appreciate being able to relax outside and not worry about fighting for a chair or finding a place in the shade. After a clobbering on the slots (it happened a lot this go around), I will grab the elevator to my room, put on some comfy lounge wear, and bring my iPad outside to watch a show. Plus, the view from my favorite Pool Patio room cannot be beat.
When not concentrating my play at Plaza, I ventured to my usual haunts, the ones that earned a place in my heart while working Downtown. Back in the day (6 or 7 years ago), the Dunkin’ on Fremont had more typical prices for Dunkin’, meaning I was able to grab a coffee everyday before heading to my desk. This tradition still rings true every day that I’m in town. I will start my day off with a trip to Dunkin’ before the sun even rises and hope I recognize the faces behind the counter.
While I’m slightly disappointed the Dunkin’ no longer looks the same as it did when I worked Downtown, I can’t deny the food court renovations at Fremont Hotel & Casino are pretty amazing. Once I get my large caramel swirl iced coffee, cream and two sugars, I am ready to hit the slot floor. The sugar is an added vacation perk and usually I’m able to get at least one nice win while slurping down my sugar coffee.
From there I would head to Binion’s for the gambling and the traumatic memories. I find the floor is usually not crowded, allowing me to snag whatever game is calling to me at the moment. While this might not matter to most, it does matter to me…. Binion’s has some of the BEST air conditioning pockets you can find downtown. If I am really hot, I will typically head over there and find the cold zones*.
*Binion’s is where me and my old boss, now good friend Kris and I chose to be when the city was shutting down in 2020. After we got furloughed across the street, we walked over to our favorite bar and had a drink with our favorite bartender, Pete. To this day, Pete will always stop in his tracks to wave and say “hey” if he sees me in Binion’s before I get a chance to head over.
** I say “pockets” and “zones” because it isn’t the entire place, keep walking around if you’re searching for the arctic slots. You’ll know it when you find it!
I did also make two quick trips, one to El Cortez and one to Circa. For El Cortez, I am always interested to see their latest and greatest renovations. While there I will play some games I can’t find at Plaza or the other casinos I primarily play at. I will say, despite their awesome renovations, I didn’t want to stick around longer than 20 minutes because I found their free play offer pretty weak despite running a decent amount of coin through on my last visits.
Circa was a more enjoyable experience. My husband and I headed to Victory Burger for a breakfast burrito and healthy serving of loaded bacon cheese fries. Unlike El Cortez, I have always found Circa’s food offers to be very fair. We were able to apply a $25 dining offer despite not playing there too often, plus I had 5X the amount of free play as El Cortez.
Despite checking out a variety of my favorite casinos and basking in the Rudie luck, I was unable to capture any truly remarkable wins. There were a few couple hundred dollar hits that kept the bets going for a little while longer, but nothing truly remarkable despite lodging thousands of bets over the course of five days.
While I acknowledge it is gambling, I would typically expect to see a little more action. Let’s not forget I landed a jackpot during Rudies Weekend last year. One can only hope the universe is waiting for Rudies weekend 2026 to share some gambling luck!
Speaking of which, if you haven’t grab your tickets to Rudies Weekend here. The annual event is once again taking place at Plaza. I’m excited for the gambling, the friends, and to eat a lot of hotdogs at the Five Guys cart coming to Carousel Bar a little later this summer.
