The Orleans Hotel & Casino. 4500 West Tropicana Avenue. Las Vegas, NV 89103. 702-365-7111. Don't let the game get out of hand. For Assistance call 1-800-522-4700. The latest Tweets from OrleansPokerRoom (@OrleansPokerRo1). Voted Best of Vegas! Cash games 24/7 with several promotions including high hands and bad beat jackpots! Tournaments daily 12pm and 7pm. Convenient parking!
In spite of the Orleans being mostly considered a locals casino, one of many that is primarily aimed at the local population of Las Vegas, it is still a large and impressive property, with 1,885 hotel rooms and a 135,000 square foot casino.
Normally, having a hotel with almost 2,000 rooms would make it a very big one indeed, and therefore suggesting that they do get a lot of travelers, anywhere else but Las Vegas that is. This barely places them in the top 30 as far as hotels go in this city, and they do indeed get a lot of walk up traffic here.
That’s certainly not a bad thing though as if the locals like visiting your casino, many of which work for casino hotels themselves, and also have a lot of local knowledge that tourists generally don’t have, well that does say something for you.
The Orleans is owned and operated by Boyd Gaming, which do own quite a few smaller casinos, over 30 in total, but on the other hand they run the Borgata in Atlantic City, so they are no stranger to the larger casinos either.
The Orleans is Boyd Gaming’s signature property in Las Vegas, and was completed in 1996. It offers Las Vegas guests and residents a real taste of New Orleans, complete with a French Quarter look, Mardi Gras masks hanging from the ceiling, and even alligator shaped doorknobs.
The Orleans got off to a pretty rocky start during its first couple of years, but the company didn’t give up on it, and instead poured more money into the project with a major expansion. More expansions came later, and the place has settled in nicely as a successful casino hotel.
In 2003, the Orleans Arena was added, and few casinos in Las Vegas can boast a 9,500 seat arena on their casino property In fact, only one of them has a bigger one, the MGM Grand.
This very large arena allows the Orleans to attract a lot bigger entertainment and shows than a property this size normally would, as well as host several local sports teams, including hosting some games for the UNLV basketball team when their arena is unavailable for a game.
Guests here are also treated to a free shuttle ride to the huge shopping center The Forums at Caesar’s Palace, as well as to their sister hotel casino, the Gold Coast Hotel.
The Property at the Orleans Las Vegas
The rooms here are offered at discount prices, starting at only $40 a night. This is far cheaper than a comparable hotel room at a real New Orleans casino, which will run you four times as much. This is Las Vegas though, where the deals are a lot bigger, but even in this city, that’s one that’s hard to beat.
The standard rooms here, either a 450 square foot deluxe king or a deluxe two queens, offer a variety of amenities, including 24 hour room service, in room hair dryer, ironing board with iron, coffee maker, and safe. You can also arrange for a refrigerator in room at additional cost.
One and two bedroom suites are also available, as well as the 1,800 square foot New Orleans Suite or the 2,500 square foot Presidential Suite. If you want one of the suites here you need to book well ahead, as they are in high demand.
Those who enjoy fine dining will find 2 selections here, the Prime Rib Loft, specializing in prime rib, and Alder and Birch, who serve up great steaks and cocktails.
Casual diners will find 5 different restaurants to choose from, including the French Market Buffet, Big Al’s Oyster Bar, T.G.I. Friday’s, the Courtyard Café, and Ondori Asian Kitchen.
There are 7 quick bite selections here, where you can grab a burger at Fuddruckers, a sub at Subway, candy at Rocky Mountain Chocolate, Italian fast food at Sbarro, ice cream at Baskin Robbins, coffee at Java Vegas, and a snack at their bowling alley.
The bowling alley here is a huge one, with 70 lanes. There’s also an arcade, a kids play center, and an 18 theater movie house.
In addition to their Orleans Arena, they also offer entertainment at the Orleans Showroom, their 850 seat theater, as well as at the Bourbon Street Cabaret. They also have meeting and convention facilities and a business center.
There’s also the Spa Orleans, as well as a barber shop and beauty salon on location.
The Casino at the Orleans
This is one of the more spacious casinos in Las Vegas, with 135,000 square feet of gaming space. It has won several awards, including Casino Player’s Best of Gaming award.
Slots are king here, and there are few casinos in Vegas with more. Their 2,600 slot and video gaming machines will provide slot, video poker, and video keno lovers with all of the action that they can handle. They are particularly known for their array of penny slots, and their high limit slot salon is indeed a salon, and comes with its own private lounge worthy of old time New Orleans.
They also have a good selection of table games here, including Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Pai Gow Poker, Baccarat, Let it Ride, and Three Card Poker. They also roll out Blackjack tournaments twice daily.
Their poker room in particular is impressive here, and overall this is one of the better poker rooms in the city, which has been recently upgraded with new tables and comfortable leather chairs. They have been named Best Poker Room in Las Vegas by readers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and with all of the great poker rooms in the city, that is really saying something.
No Las Vegas casino would be complete without a sports and race book, and they have both here, with state of the art facilities. Traditional keno drawings are also available here, in addition to the video keno in their slots area.
Players also get hooked up with Boyd Gaming’s B Connected rewards program, which is linked to all of the company’s properties around the country.
Orleans Casino Poker Tournaments
The Orleans may not be the best known casino hotel in Las Vegas, but it is a pretty good spot, and you don’t have to be a local to play here.
Read also:
In this week's installment of Inside Gaming, Caesars thinks the New Orleans smoking ban has negatively affected revenue at the Harrah's property, Forbes profiles a friend of Donald Trump and speculates about the president's interest in investing in a new Vegas casino, and the Golden Nugget's owner is glad Michigan's NCAA run is finally over.
Caesars Links Smoking Ban to Revenue Decrease at Harrah's New Orleans
Two years ago in this space we reported on the New Orleans City Council having voted unanimously in favor of instituting a smoking ban in the city's bars, restaurants and other establishments, including casinos.
At the time Harrah's New Orleans and its owners Caesars Entertainment expressed objections to the ban, fearing as much as a 20 percent decline in revenue would result from it. Harrah's had requested the council allow them an exception, giving them permission to maintain a separate smoking section on the gaming floor. But when the ban went into effect in April 2015, no such exception was granted.
As the ban approaches its second anniversary, those representing Harrah's this week noted the effect the ban has had on the performance of Harrah's New Orleans, reports The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com. Speaking to the Riverboat Economic Development and Gaming Task Force on Tuesday, Caesars Entertainment president and CEO Mark Frissora 'said Harrah's lost about $70 million in revenue during the two years following the start of the smoking ban in New Orleans.'
'It's not fair because everyone else around us doesn't have the smoking ban,' said Frissora, referring to the fact that the prohibition does not affect casinos outside of the Orleans Parish.
Ronnie Jones, chairman of the Task Force, backed up Frissora's point by noting how 'revenues at the New Orleans' location were decreasing before the ban, and now the reverse is happening: revenues at the New Orleans' location are decreasing as the neighboring properties are increasing.'
'I'm not a scientist, but I think the smoking ban had an impact,' concluded Jones.
A recent report from Caesars, summarized by The Times-Picayune, shows the first quarter of 2015 to have been 'the best quarter of the casino's history,' while revenue for Harrah's New Orleans has dropped steadily since.
However Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO for Americans for Nonsmokers Rights cast doubt on the complaints, noting how area casinos without smoking bans 'have also seen revenues fluctuate,' with gaming revenue at other Caesars properties in Las Vegas also having decreased over recent years. Native American tribal casino expansion in Oklahoma is also cited as having affected gaming in Louisiana.
Along with dozens of New Orleans bar owners, Harrah's immediately pursued a lawsuit against the city arguing the law to be too vague and that the council hadn't followed proper regulations when approving the ban. But that lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in early June 2015.
For more on the fiery debate over the smoking ban, truck over to The Times-Picayune.
Forbes Profile of Trump Associate Discusses Possible Vegas Plans
This week Forbes ran a feature sharing some speculation about President Donald Trump's potential interest in investing in a new Las Vegas property, an article headlined 'Why the Next Big Trump Project Could Be A Las Vegas Casino.'
Billionaire businessman, real estate mogul and Las Vegas resident Phil Ruffin is the focus of the article, someone readers of PokerNews may recall from his appearance during the seventh season of the popular show High Stakes Poker. Ruffin also was a participant in the inaugural $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop at the 2012 World Series of Poker.
The article is a deep dive into Ruffin's history and many business interests with a particular focus on his friendship (and business dealings) with Trump. Along the way come details of the pair's plan for new casino in Las Vegas, as well as reference to an idea to build a high-speed train from California to Las Vegas.
Obvious concerns about a sitting president conducting business deals and the resulting conflicts of interest surround any such discussion. The article concludes with Trump's previous promise to 'do no new deals during his presidency,' with his later qualification that the promise would only cover foreign partnerships and that 'domestic deals would proceed, subject to vetting.'
'A new casino in Las Vegas, presumably carrying the same Trump brand as the hotel, would seem to meet the requirements,' opines Forbes, alluding to the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas co-owned by Ruffin and Trump.
Trump was a prominent player in Atlantic City over nearly three decades where he owned multiple casinos, all of which have either been sold or closed. It was only last month that the Trump name was at last removed from signage connected to the Trump Taj Mahal that shuttered its doors last fall after Trump's ownership stake in that property had been extinguished in February 2016.
New Orleans Poker Rooms
Read more about Ruffin, Trump and their possible Las Vegas plans at Forbes.
Dream (or Nightmare) of $1M NCAA Payout No Longer in Play After Michigan Loss
How's your NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket doing? Still have three of your final four alive, or did your bracket fall apart with the upsets last weekend?
They're halfway through the 'Sweet 16' round of games in the tournament on which the American Gaming Association says more than $10.4 billion is being wagered, with an estimated 70 million people completing brackets for office pools and other contests.
However you are doing, Tilman Fertitta, owner of The Golden Nugget, is breathing a little easier this morning after the Oregon Ducks managed to outlast the Michigan Wolverines last night in a 69-68 thriller to advance.
Per the Associated Press, Fertitta had approved a $12,500 bet at 80-to-1 for Michigan to win the tournament. The $1 million payout 'would have been 10 times larger than any the Nugget's sports book has ever made,' but with the Wolverines' loss Fertitta no longer has to sweat the bet.
The bet was placed by Michigan alumnus Derek Stevens, owner and CEO of the D Casino. Stevens also made some news by betting $11,000 on each of the 32 first-round games of the tournament, after which he found himself down $109,000.
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IndustrycasinosHarrah’s New OrleansCaesars EntertainmentMark FrissoraLas VegasNevadaDonald TrumpPhil Ruffinsports bettingGolden NuggetD Casino