I've never found a desire to enter the Sahara since they let it go a few years back, but I saw a billboard ad announcing $1 Blackjack in that forgotten placce and decided to check it out.

I drove to the end of the Strip and it still looks like someone's forgotten child or forgotten and unkept, great-great grandpa. But I pulled in and parked my Prius in a dirty parking stall and took a dirty elevator ride to the front entrance which is still located in a somewhat unkept alley on the south-side of the hotel.

(I can remember when this place used to be a high class operation, but it ain't no more!)

Once inside that south side entrance I found m self in the very dreary front desk reception area and immediately wondered who the heck would stay here once they got as far as I found myself. You would think that someone would spend some dough in an effort to make this reception area a bit more pleasing to the eye but it appears that someone just don't give a darn.

So I continued down a long passageway and suddenly found myself in the back end of the casino which was a bit more colorful but not by much.

So once inside this den of inequity, I kept on walking until I saw some Blackjack tables, finding most of them empty at $5 minimums.

But down the end (which used to be the front) I see a circle of Blackjack tables with decent looking people having a decent time playing the $1 minimums.

There were 4 or 5 such tables and each of them had vacant spots so I chose one with the empty chair at first base and threw a ten-spot on the table, got my chips, and started playing.

About three hours later I was ahead about $20 and full of free beer and started making $5 bets in order to leave that table with a lot of money or none at all.

And two hours later I was still $20 ahead and decided to call it quits. So I cashed in and somehow got $25 back and started heading back to my car.

But on my way I ran into Alien Cows From Planet Moolah and those little cows are my favorite critters in all of Las Vegas, so I pulled out that lonely fiver and fed those cows with the hope of leaving them moo-less and destitute within a short matter of time.

And before I reached my second dollar investment (I play 10 cents a spin), those little cows moo'd and moo'd and moo's making those around me think that I had a stampede underway.

ANd the winnings kept racking up and them cows kept moo'en and moo'en and shooting those little flying saucer cannons and now everybodys looking, watching all this stupid stuff happening while I am growing richer and richer.

And then they stopped and the silence was deafening, but I had won a little more over $35 .... but knowing them cows as well as I do, I realized that what they give, they suddenly take away. ........... So I gave them a curtious, "Thanks, Moo-Cows" and took that little slip of paper to the cashier cage and hurried out of the Sahara and into the sunset.

SO if you're looking for a decent $1 game, head on off to the Sahara, pardner, but stay away from those Moo-Cows unless you want to be treated like a rustler - which ain't too appealing in these here parts!

Will, I'm not trying to be a wise guy, but How do they make any money @ a $1 BJ table to update anything. You yourself stated the the $5 tables where empty.
You might have hit the Sahara on a good day, the last time I walked through the place, the fellow gamblers gave both of us a case of the creeps! $1 BJ brings in the gutter element. It also makes it hard to keep the good dealers, as the $1 players take over, the tokes drop off. Makes for some unhappy dealers. The Sahara has been a very mismanaged place for a number of years. I don't see it getting better. IMHO

Lee, just because the minimum is $1.00, that doesn't mean that everyone limits themselves to a $1 bet!!! GEEZZZZZ!

Most at my table (and it was full) were playing anywhere from $3 - $20 while a couple of 'newbies' were learning the game at $1 each. But even then would take a risk and shoot with $2 when they got a bit ahead.

And to tell ya the truth, I didn't see no bums in there ('cept for me of course!) . It was NASCAR week so it did appear to be NASCAR folks and a large contingent of Orientals just like every other casino in town.

Even a couple of white haired ladies in tiger striped dresses.

But I do have to agree that the Sahara has seen its better days. It appears that that end of the Strip is dead and gone with little hope in sight for the immediate future.

But they are trying! And that 's what counts! Something like holding on to a siniking ship until the storm abides and rescue is sent on its way.

You might not find the Wynn folks in that boat but those who were aboard appeared to have decent jobs once ashore.

Will, even at $5 it doesn't pay the bills. They just don't have the players.Those low rollers, while having fun and drinking "free" beer, are not what will save the Sahara, and they are not big tippers to the employees either. All those tables need to be filled, or it just doesn't work.
My prediction is in these tough times there are a few casinos that arn't going to make it. Plaza, Las Vegas Club, Sahara, Riv.. Thos e seem the most stressed properties of the ones we last visited. On leaving, I had no real desire to come back. I also don't see anyone with big backing stepping up to buy them and redeem those lost properties either in this economy.
Go figure, nascar week, nascar fan inside the place??? LOL Thats a pretty big weekend! go visit sometime when nothing is going on in town that is major event like that, and you'll think there is a trailer park trash convention being held in the joint! I feel for the Sahara, and I don't mind betting on the underdog, just not on a dead horse! IMHO

Sadly, I think you're right about Sahara. It was pretty grim to see it this trip and what it's become. Years ago, in its hey day, big name musicians would go to the Casbar in the wee small hours of the morning to see Louis Prima, who changed the look of the lounge act. Just a couple of years ago I saw some great jazz acts. Their music was fantastic. The food was pretty deplorable and this time they said the buffet wasn't open and no plans to reopen it. (I could see why!) But it's really sad to see it get so run down.

I go to the Sahara often. It has a lot of sad situations. The owners are doing a horrible job of attracting business. They are probably doing a pretty good job of damage control to struggle through the economic crisis. I honestly don't know if they have serious plans to recover or not.

The employees I know are all in very good spirits. Tips are fine and they are happy to have a job. The big question is how long they will have a job if the owners keep trimming back. It is my understanding that they have a solid locals customer base in the poker room and slot club. That wont sustain the health of the casino though.

I think they need to fill hotel rooms and I have no direct connections to find out how they are doing. Check in lines are sometimes long and sometimes short.

JMT, your living there, so I probably have a better handle on the pulse of the Sahara then I do. I only have what I read, and we both know how slanted some stories can be in the press.
One of the signs I have always used as a tell for casino health is, how clean the place is, and how much space is not used to the full potential. I see both on my last stroll through the place. The Riv has been looking like that for years and is still open, so it's not an exact science! Go Figure?
Doesn't the Sahara have some sections of the hotel closed down??? The last real owner I beleive was Benneit, had a plan, and a vision for the property, now it seems lost. I understand the coaster is shut down? is it still shut down? It was in November. Too many things that are going unattended and unkept.
All that being said, I would still like to see the Sahara make a comeback. It's not like the Dunes, or the Hacienda, or the sands, when they where on life support. I never missed them, The Sahara would be missed.

You are on the right track Lee. I can't think of any other resort on the Strip that seems due more than the Sahara. The place is about as scaled back as it can be. Just when you think they can't close anything else off, they do. I think the current owner is some California night club guy.

I can't really defend what the Sahara is doing. Other than the Rat Pack show, and maybe some other shows, I can't think of any reason to go there. It scares me how well the NASCAR cafe is doing, and someone seems to always be eating that big burrito challenge. You won't catch me eating anywhere in the Sahara anytime soon.

The roller coaster shut down briefly for scheduled maintenance. It doesn't get a lot of business but it is back in operation.

You are on the right track Lee.