The End of an Era

Ok, most people wouldn’t classify the Boardwalk hotel and casino in Vegas, an era. Unfortunately:

The Boardwalk Hotel and Casino has closed as of January 9, 2006 to make way for Project CityCenter.
We want to take this opportunity to thank you for being a part of Las Vegas history.
From all the employees at the Boardwalk:
“We wish you all the best!”
Signed,
Boardwalk Hotel and Casino Staff
Please click here to find rates at other fine Las Vegas resorts.

*sniff*sniff*

Ok, I guess I am over it, but I loved that crappy little place. My first visit to Vegas, 3 years ago, I was staying at the San Remo (only the best for me). I got to Vegas at about 9pm and went to bed at 6am the next morning. Just as the sun was rising, I called my wife to tell her I was going to bed. About 3 hours later, I woke up and left like I was missing something by staying in bed.

My 2 buddies were still asleep so I decided to wander a bit and see what I could find. I stumbled into the Boardwalk and stopped at their signature short craps tables. I had always tried to watch craps, because of all the excitement when the tables were hot, but without someone to teach you, it can take a long time to figure out what the hell is going on.

There were a couple people playing as I watched for about 10 minutes. There was a guy playing that seemed to know what he was doing, and since it was early and pretty slow, I started asking him a few questions. After about 3 hours of playing at that table, I was up about $50 and I was hooked. I loved craps.

I have been back to Vegas twice since that trip and both times, made a point of visiting the Boardwalk to play craps. I have had great luck there most of the time. The trip in January of 2005 (January 17th archive) for my buddies bachelor party, I turned $100 into over $500 on the same table. In October of 2005, my last trip, I turned $100 into about $150.

Craps at the Boardwalk was fun for me. The limits were low, the clientele was lowbrow, and I had good luck. It is sad to see it go.

Lastly, and probably more importantly, the crappy little food stand in the Boardwalk was one of my favorites. Shrimp cocktail for $1.99. Can’t beat it like a hurt dink. Heaping plate of fried chicken fingers and fries for like $5.00. Ditto. The 3 mini-burger plate and fries. I’ll miss you.

I talked to my buddy who I have been with on each of my Vegas trips about this today. I went on and on about how disappointing it was to see the Boardwalk closing to build another megaresort blah blah blah.

Apparently, he was less enthralled with the casino and my favorite fast food stand:

Drewspop: did you know that the boardwalk closed
Buddy: yeah
Drewspop: bummer
Drewspop: end of an era, and no more cheap fried food
Buddy: or nasty shits

Goodbye Boardwalk Hotel and Casino. I guess I will have to visit the San Remo (which just happened to be remodeled and recently opened as the new Hooter’s Hotel and Casino) again for old times sake.