Binion's Horseshoe Open Again

[clevfan]

Binion's Horseshoe Open Again
Channel 13 News
Posted: April 1, 2004

The legendary Binion's Horseshoe swung open its doors this afternoon to thousands of loyal customers and curious onlookers.
Within minutes, a deluge of people had flooded the gambling floor, filling every corner and every seat.

Binion's had shut down more than two months ago because of financial problems. It reopened today under Harrah's management.

Not much had changed inside the casino that was founded more than 52 years ago by cowboy Benny Binion.

Harrah's officials say they removed about 25 percent of the table games and 400 slot machines to make the place less cramped and more customer friendly.

All the old grimy casino chips were also replaced with clean ones sporting Benny Binion's famous mug, who died in 1989.

Swaths of the ratty carpet, with its floral pattern and lucky horseshoes, were replaced with new identical rolls found stashed away in a warehouse. Poker.

Harrah's officials say the 35th annual World Series of Poker tournament is set to begin April 23 at Binion's.

http://www.ktnv.com/news/apr04/219062.asp

[mvbski]

its a shame what that witch did to this place,at one time it was the best casino in vegas if you just wanted to gamble

[Bobby C]

Harrah's officials say they removed about 25 percent of the table games and 400 slot machines to make the place less cramped...

Whoever thought of that should get a raise. Brilliant move, no fooling.

All the old grimy casino chips were also replaced with clean ones...

That's great news for us chip collectors! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[pmj18]

Clevfan, Thanks for the article. Atleast they are keeping the WSOP there.

[hockeystl]

Don't bother to gamble. ALL the single deck BJ has been removed. It's been completely HARRAHIZED. Nothing but the typical Harrahs burn joint.

From Anthony Curtis' Las Vegas Advisor Lite Newsletter :

"Entering off the Fremont Street Experience at the southeast corner, the first thing I noticed was that the big six wheel--which had stood in this spot as long as I can remember--was gone. Binion's had always seeded this sucker game with a pretty dealer in an attempt to snag the squares coming off the street. At least part of the tradition has been maintained, as there was a girl (pretty) dealing single-deck blackjack with the 6-5 payoff for naturals (sucker game). Bad start! This is the area of the casino where the distinctive long line of crap tables stood; they've been moved back and there are now more blackjack games here. After years of being Las Vegas' premier single-deck blackjack house, single decks with the standard payoff for naturals are now nonexistent; games were predominantly double decks and 6-deck shoes. "

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Bobby C, my recollection is that 25% of the blackjack tables were always closed anyway. Even during Super Bowl weekend, some of those tables were shut down (the line against the bar on the non-sportsbook side).

Very disappointing. I enjoyed playing at Binion's. Doesn't anybody realize that there is a niche market for a place that gives players a fair shot? The 6-to-5 blackjack is gross. Why not just empty your wallet after you get off the plane?

[hockeystl]

The direction that blackjack games in LV are going. Sad but true. Next time you see this 6:5 ripoff, speak up to management - or at least a pitboss. IT WORKED AT CAESARS! They pulled these crap games off the floor due to customer complaints.

Four Common Casino Blackjack Scams

[Scooter]

The Horseshoe stinks! Literally!

They've been telling the media that they've replaced all rugs/carpet.
They may have replaced the carpet in the hotel rooms, but they've merely patched the carpet on the casino floor.

It smells like a basement room in which the rug was flooded and never dried properly, mixed with cat urine.

Seriously - the doors are all open - take a whiff before you enter - Disgusting!

[clevfan]

Saturday, April 03, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JANE ANN MORRISON: Horseshoe customers hope new owners have some of Benny Binion's touch


When Binion's Horseshoe reopened Thursday, and thousands of people poured in looking for their memories and $1 beer, some visitors scurried to a spot toward the back of the casino.

"I think it was right here," a puzzled man told his friends, looking at an empty area near the garage entrance.

He wanted his picture taken in front of the $1 million display, 100 $10,000 bills framed by a horseshoe, which for 40 years had been a photo opportunity unique to Binion's.

But that display isn't coming back. The rare $10,000 bills were sold by Benny Binion's daughter to a collector late in 1999 for a price described only as "less than $10 million."

When Becky Behnen eliminated the free photos just after Christmas in 1998, it was one of the early signs that money was tight. When she sold the collection a year later, another red flag popped up. But it took until Jan. 9 for the Horseshoe to be involuntarily closed because Behnen was drowning in debt.

Tom Moilanen had been one of the photographers between 1994 and 1998. Playful and outgoing, he agreed Thursday to visit the casino on the first day it was open under the management of Harrah's Entertainment.

"Well, it's smoky as usual," Moilanen laughed.

The customers looked the same, and many were the same.

Some hobbled in on canes, and the ambulatory ones dodged plenty of wheelchairs and tried not to cut off anyone's oxygen tank lines. This was not a crowd transplanted from the Palms or the Bellagio and few qualified as hotties, but they were true gamblers, packing the slots, the blackjack tables and the poker room.

There were small differences Moilanen noticed, bright areas of carpet where banks of slot machines had been removed showing less worn areas of the original carpet of a golden horseshoe with red roses. (Martha Stewart was not consulted.)

But he saw many of the same dealers, bartenders and cocktail waitresses. And yes, those over-50 cocktail waitresses were hired back, despite their earlier fears that their age would work against them.

"The 'Shoe had the reputation for having some of the oldest cocktail waitresses in town," Moilanen laughed.

The famous $2 steak dinner wasn't being advertised, but a $1.95 breakfast was. So was an $8.95 steak and lobster dinner at the coffee shop.

The Steak House atop the old Mint tower still has great beef and a stirring view of the city. Where else does a woman feel comfortable wearing a white cowboy hat to an upscale dinner when it's not National Finals Rodeo time?

Moilanen loved his years at the Horseshoe and has no bitterness.

"I had a ball here. I can't say a bad thing about it. I just had a blast," he said. "I would love to shoot eight hours worth of photos right now. As casinos go, it was the best in town."

He and co-worker Lucy Bianchi had laughed at and with the 400 people a day who posed and postured for their free souvenir.

Yet, much like the Binion's Horseshoe property has moved on, so has he.

Moilanen, 42, went to college after he lost his job, studying communications at UNLV. He bought Price Video from the retiring owners and is now working toward his master's degree with plans to teach. He writes a video preview column for the Las Vegas Bugle called "Peeping with Tom."

Benny Binion, who started his casino in 1951 and died in 1989, had a number of secrets, but one of his secrets of success was that he "not only took care of the big bettors, he took care of the nickel players," Moilanen said.

Binion's daughter lost their loyalty when she took away the comps players big and small felt they deserved. Even the loss of the free photos made people grumble.

"I hope they make it," Moilanen said about the new ownership and management.

So does Tom Hilbing of Quincy, Ill., who pointed to the table where he played his first game of blackjack in 1972. He was just 23 and didn't know exactly what he was doing. When he was done playing, Benny Binion came over and told him he could go get a free steak dinner at the coffee shop, making him a customer for life.

Like the rest of us, Hilbing was there chasing memories and hoping for the property's success.


Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.



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