Orleans boilerplate information

My favorite at Al's Oyster House is the oyster chowder.  It is not on the menu, but they will make it for you if you ask.


I am a very poor judge of rooms, because I am too easily pleased, but I always think of the Orleans as having the best standard rooms in Vegas.


It was once the gem of many discussion boards.  Then the gambling declined.  In particular they took what was their signature VP, full pay 10/7 DB out of everywhere and replaced it with 9/6DB.  That seemed crazy because 9/6DDB was everywhere.  I think they now have 9/7DB is some places scattered around the casino.  The only other full pay game that I know of is 8/5 Bonus and that is not such a great game, even if that pay table is considered  full pay.  


That said, I like the 9/7 DB nickle progressives. I think there are two banks of them and sometimes it is hard to get a seat as they are favorites with the locals.  Sometimes the progressives (three of them all different) can be high enough to make this a very attractive game.  And for only 75 cents a pull we get three lines to play.  So I find them fun.  the bank I play is located near the buffet and to the right of Brendan's and the bathrooms.
I also found last time a quarter 9/7 progressive and I played it for a while, but it was not in an advantage place as the progressive was low.  
There is no JOB 9/6.  You can find that at the sister casino Gold Coast and earn points there that can be used at the Orleans.
I don't play deuces but this was noted:

They have a couple of NSUDs (99.73% payout). Though they removed the ones in front of the buffet. (Heard there are some 3-play ones still there, not sure).
So the nsuds left should be found somewhere all back where the pokerroom is and there very far to the back. And you can find them near the bingo.

I have enjoyed their shows.  Often you will have a two for one.  Last time Wild Bill and I went to use a 2 for 1 for $55 seats and we were just given free tickets to $65 seats and told, "this is your lucky day."  That makes me think that if you went a little late to the ticket box and asked if there were any good deals on seats, they might have a freebie.


The used dice and the used playing cards are good deals in the gift shop.  Unlike most other cards they are clipped at the corners but not black marked so they are good for poker.  They are white backed.  there are sometimes great deals in this giftshop.




Their all-day deal on food is a good deal($24 on everyday except Friday when it is $27) especially when breakfast is expensive.  It is not 24 hours, but you get a wrist band and can use until 9PM and it will let you skip lines and enter at the VIP side.  I like the buffet there.  If you have the experience of feeling you feel encouraged to eat too much at a buffet because you are there and then you are gone,  but like the selection, this is a great deal.  I play poker or VP and just skip out for a half hour of  fruit and coffee, and back to the game as often as I like.


The poker games are fun, but not the softest.  2/4 is not very difficult and can be soft.  4/8 attracts good players who know one another and may be hard to beat.  No limit is not for me there.  The max buy ins seem too steep to me.  But they have Omaha and many people like this venue.  They do comp and you can earn your oyster stew there.  I have.


Orleans  has an Irish pub, Bendan's with some Irish music at times announced , but there is also an Irish bar right behind called the orleans and across the street called McMullen's
[URL="http://www.mcmullansirishpub.com/"]http://www.mcmullansirishpub.com/[/URL] 
that has great homemade potato chips with dips, good food in general, and a fine ambiance.  Sometimes Restaurant.com has coupons. Smithwick's is on tap.  And as you can tell they have some fun events although when I have been there it was never noisy.


You can bowl at the Orleans.  You can do "dance, dance, revolution" there.


The jacuzzi is not just a little outside hole in the cement, it is really pretty with rocks in the center and plenty of room. Reminds me of the Flamingo jacuzzi.


When the coffee place near the check-in was Seattles, there was free wifi there and in the morning it was never crowded, and you did not even have to buy coffee if you did not want to.  Now it has a different name, but I expect there is still free wifi.  High seats along a counter looking toward the casino offered a pleasant place to do a bit of email and catch up. 


The fitness center had nice machines and was pleasant.
There is a spa, with a $15 daily fee.  I have used it years ago and liked it.  It was free then.


Nightly music in the lounge is usually good for dancing.  As I remember, not on Monday.  Usually it is uncrowded.
I like parking in a small outside lot that is just to the right of the hotel entrance (beyond a cement divide) and I just park there to check in if I have a car.
Without a car the free shuttle takes you to Bill's on the strip or to the Gold Coast. 
But just across the street the Tropicana city bus takes you in uncrowded comfort to the strip at Tropicana casino or will take you all the way to the Pinball Hall of Fame if you like.  For me, that means great location. 

If you find yourself too late for the last free shuttle, getting the bus in front of NYNY right in front of the porte-cochère is an easy way back, or getting a cab in the NYNY circle is cheap and convenient.  The cabby  just pulls  from the NYNY circle under the porte-cochère out on Tropicana and in less than $10 he is at the Orleans.
I find some interesting inexpensive shows in that Tropicana/strip area.   On the South side of Planet Hollywood is a little theater.  I saw [URL="http://www.yelp.com/biz/hypnosis-gone-wild-las-vegas"]Hypnosis Gone Wild[/URL] there and loved it.  By checking all the coupon free magazines you can find $10 off.  I saw a comic in that same little theater and that was fun.
I think this little theater might change its name because I don't remember it as being Empire Theater.  


Anyway, I like the easy bus access.


Also, from Excalibur there is a free tram to Mandalay Bay with a stop at Luxor.  So a room at the Orleans gives very good access to most of the strip.
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/referenceguide-transportation.cfm?type=Free%20Shuttles


Don't walk from the strip to the Orleans.  Working women you do not want to know walk there.  Sometimes they meet at Denny's for an early breakfast half way between the Orleans and the strip, so skip the graveyard special there as well.  Wild, Wild West is not a local's place you want to explore unless you are training for a night at the Western downtown.
But the walk across the street from the bus stop feels comfortable to me.  Walking across the street to McMullen's seems easy even after dark.


Senior days have been on Tuesday.  5X points on VP and 7X points on slots until 4PM, cheap movies, half priced buffet deals and a few cash drawings.  I like that day.  I hope it won't go away before May when I go, but did not see it in Vegas Values this week.  The last time I called it was still a working promo.
American Casino Guide has enough coupons for Orleans and Gold Coast to pay for the book.  However, one person gets a coupon deal once in a year.  No use having two books unless you have two people.


Down Arville (a road parallel with the strip, but where the Orleans is) there is an easy laundromat. CalleWizard of Suds http://www.dexknows.com/business_profiles/wizard_of_suds-b40822 It is safe to walk there in daylight, but it is a half hour walk.  It generally is uncrowded and you don't need to bring anything but clothes.  You can buy the rest.


Okay, that is all I know.