Lounge Scenes from the movie Casino

Okay, so today we are going with an easy one. In this screenshot Ginger and Ace are entering a restaurant. Can you name this restaurant? Have you ever been in it?

 

Gotta be Oscar's, right? What was its former name?

I was in there once in its previous incarnation, but I don't think I actually had dinner. Maybe a drink.

 

It was called the Center Stage back when Jackie owned the place. It had the best view of any restaurant downtown. It was a pretty good upscale restaurant where you could get a steak dinner with all the trimmings for under $20.

 

As you can see in the view from the restaurant the Fremont Street Experience had yet to be built.

 

Rumor has it that the Center Stage had a hidden private room behind the bar with one-way glass.

 

In this screenshot Nicky Santoro has his back to us. Can anyone name the sportsbook they are in? I figure this will be easy for redietz.

 

LOL! It looks like I invited myself to Boz's bar when I got home last night.

 

You know, I think we have the most modern gambling forum on the internet. It is unbelievably easy for me to move pictures from my folders to this forum. With the other forums I have to move the picture to Imgur before I can post it.

 

It has the feel of Binion's, but I'm not sure. It's set up as a race book, and I never bet horses, so I'm a bit lost. But it does look like the old Binion's book.

My second guess is the Fremont.

If KJ is reading this, Binion's book did a tremendous amount of business for its size ( you figure out why). After the Mirage opened, Binion's tiny book had the second most action in Las Vegas.

 

After Benny died the book continued to do well because everybody liked Jack. But once Becky took over the book went downhill fast.

 

Okay, I'll put up a screenshot of Santoro/Pesci first entering the book. This should make it easy for you.

 

Leroy's?!? Wow, that brings back memories.

You know, because they no longer exist, I had forgotten about the independents, which were forced out of business when Nevada ruled you had to have a hotel to do race/sports. Was that a Wynn power play?

Leroy's, Santa Anita, Little Caesars -- next to Bally's. I think there was one more, not counting the Gary Austin place, which used some robbery trickeration as I recall.

The guy who published the McCusker Report graded handicappers based on a Friday line from Leroy's. The place was reasonably famous.

 

Leroy's had satelite books on the I-80 corridor. If you are a small time sports bettor then Wendover was the place you should be. At least that's the way it was when I was there 9 years ago. Leroy's had a satelite book in the Wendover Nugget. My sports betting friends there told me that Leroy's was known for the sharpest lines. You could make up to a $10,000 wager at the Nugget.

Across the street was Montego Bay, a Peppermill property. They had a book there and also at the Rainbow. This was the soft line. You had all the Jack Mormons coming in and betting the favorites and overs. They never seen a favorite or over they didn't like. Their money pool didn't include the Peppermill in Reno. They had their own money pool in Wendover. The guy that ran the Montego Bay/Rainbow books didn't give the Jack Mormons any breaks. The lines started moving toward the favorite when the Jack Mormons came in just before game time. But the betting was capped you $500. You had to have special permission to bet higher. That was an attention getter and I didn't try it.

A Jack Mormom would bet a favorite at -9 at Montego Bay and didn't know or give a shit that he could get the same favorite across the street at Leroy's at -7.5 or even -7. There were plenty of middle opportunities at Wendover.

I remember one year, I think it was 2007. NBA playoffs. Miami Heat vs. Detroit Pistons. I would be playing poker at the Rainbow. The book was next to the poker room. The line on the over would open at like 188. It would sit there for a day or so not moving. Then a few hours before game time it started moving. Up to 189, then 190, then 191, then 192, then 193, then 194. That's when I would pounce and bet the under.

This happened all six games of the series. I got five or six extra points on the under on every game and won all six bets.

 

Okay, for today. This is the screenshot where Ace is confronting his wife and her boyfriend, Lester the Pimp. The scene was shot in a hispanic restaurant just off of downtown. You can see the hot sauce sitting on the table. Can you name the restaurant?

 

This restaurant is surrounded by a horseshoe shaped hotel. In this screenshot Lester has left the restaurant but is greeted by Ace's henchmen and they are about to beat the crap out of him. Can you name this hotel?

 

This one is a full blown whiff for me. I have no blessed idea.

 

The name of the restaurant is Salvadoreno's. The name of the hotel is the Regency. They are located in the 700 block of North Main just past Bonanza. Not exactly a prime location. Surprisingly, the restaurant and hotel get some pretty good reviews.

 

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Thanks. I will check out the place in a couple of weeks. Would you recommend eating there?

 

I had to google down the name of the restaurant because I couldn't remember it. I've never eaten there. I caught some reviews where they like something in that restaurant called a papusa.

 

Always welcome, but I don't see you hitting PA anytime soon. But if you do, the liquor and the Henry's Orange are on me. Even will put you up for the night. Would be a good night of conversation.