Tipapalooza! (Afterbirthday Edition)

Off-Strip: I popped into the BJ's Cocktail Lounge on Decatur (just a bit north of Blue Diamond) after their sign told me they had a 20,000-point sign-up bonus for new members. Turns out that's worth $20.00 of free play on your next visit! (Or when the boss drops by to log your points, whichever comes first.) I played 10-cent video poker and cashed out nearly double that amount! If the bartender in the little referee outfit isn't enough to tempt you into coming  back, they also advertise $20 free play on Tuesdays; lose that much through the machine and they'll put another $20 back onto it.

Freebie Alert! Whip out your CVS Extra Care card (and if you don't have one, go down to your local CVS and sign up for one), take it to a CVS, scan it at their coupon kiosk, and get a coupon for a free roll of Just The Basics paper towels, a 79-cent value. Scanning your card gets you different coupons each week. CVS is pretty good with the deals and freebies, sometimes with their Rewards for cash off on your next purchase, you can get stuff essentially for free, like those jelly beans I picked up for the office the other week.

Free Eats Update! Remember that coupon for the free buffet or $10 off at the cafe at the Silver Sevens? The one that was in last week's edition of Vegas2Go? Well, the new edition is out (the one with the black cover) and the same coupon is in there again, so if you couldn't find any copies of the last issue, go scarf up an armload or several of this one. As you will note from the sign, you can get a half-rack of ribs and a dozen wings for $7.77 at the cafe, 24/7. Did I mention the coupon is good for a $10 food credit at the cafe?


Keep Watching The Ground: As a reminder that we should always keep our eyes peeled, I put in a lot of legwork this weekend finding out which casinos on or near the strip give away something for your birthday. It will save me a lot of time next year, as only a few do. I'm glad I visited them all, though, because outside of one, I found a $100 bill lying on the sidewalk. Not a bad way to wrap up a birthday.

Why We Love The Silverton

Take Dean Martin south of Tropicana and just keep going, and you'll come up on the Silverton to your left. With its rustic lodge motif, and a huge Bass Pro Shops next door separated by an interior waterfall, this is one of our favorite Vegas casino resorts. A big aquarium greets you as you enter, with glass alcoves you can stand in to replicate the underwater experience, and the occasional mermaid gliding by. Speaking of which, the Mermaid Bar is decorated with big porthole-shaped tanks of floating jellyfish. If you have kids, they could find hours of amusement here. If you don't, you could. They get some big-name entertainment in their showroom, too; my friend Steps insisted we make a return visit to Vegas solely because she saw Randy Travis was going to be appearing here. They have an equestrian center here that can hold rodeo events, although I personally haven't taken in any.

When I signed up for my player's card, I got a nice ceramic pitcher as a welcome gift. When I brought my poker buddy along, he quickly comped a free buffet for earning a minimal number of points; in fact after playing just a couple of sessions of blackjack, we earned so many comps we could both get free buffets for two days in a row! Their Seasons buffet is no slouch either, with as wide a selection of sushi as I've seen, peel-and-eat shrimp that met my poker buddy's high standards, and, on Hawaiian luau day, a roast pig. (They have several other fine restaurants as well.) They also upgraded both of us from Silver membership to Gold...and remember, my buddy had only been

a member for a couple of days! On our most recent visit this morning, we were pleasantly surprised when we swiped our player's cards at a kiosk and discovered we each had between $15 and $25 in free slot play, and another $9 to $19 in points that we also used for free slot play (although we could as easily have used it for food or shopping). Don't think the money we won didn't come in handy, either. The Silverton takes really good care of its players.

If that's not enough, the cocktail servers will bring you complimentary Starbucks coffee if you ask. What more do you want?

How About Free Music? Mickey Gilley is finishing a three-night stand of free shows at his namesake club at Treasure Island, tonight (Saturday Feb. 1) at 7:30 p.m. Sorry for the late notice, but I had to scramble to find the latest issue of the Weekly. Speaking of which...

On A Sadder Note: City Life, one of Las Vegas's free alternative weeklies since 1996, announces that this week's issue will be their last. In a crowded landscape that includes the Weekly, Neon, and Seven, it must have been tough to survive in today's fragile economy.

Tipapalooza! (Downtown & North Las Vegas Edition)

Fave Downtown Find: We rather regret the removal of almost all of the gaming from the Gold Spike to make room for big beanbag chairs and pool tables, leaving a few slots in one corner to retain the glittering "Casino" sign in more than name only. But! Walking out the back door brings you immediately to this winter wonderland: a nice open-air lounging area where easy chairs surround fire pits, there are outdoor games to play, and, of all things, an ice-skating rink beckons. What more could you ask? How about an Airstream parked there for some mysterious reason?

Downtown Hotel That's Feeding and Housing Us: The Grand moved into the building formerly occupied by the Lady Luck...anyone who stayed at the LL should instantly recognize the driveway at the valet parking entrance..and dolled it up real nice. It's those little extra amenities that show a hotel cares, and one of us especially appreciated the earplugs provided in our room. The Spread is a reasonably-priced deli, the Mob Bar has live entertainment Thursday-Sunday and a big-honking-screen TV for game night, and big photos of jazz musicians greet you as you step off the elevators. As a bonus, the Mob Museum is right across the street. What I really wanted to talk about though is this collage of casino dice that graces the hotel lobby, dice from all over Nevada, including such dear departed Vegas casinos as the Showboat and, yes, my beloved Sahara.

Casino That Really Won Us Over: Not only do new players get $5 in free slot play at the Cannery on Craig, but if you send the following three text messages to 99158...PERK, VICTORY, and CASA2...you get another $5 in free slot play, a $10 food credit at Victory's Cafe, and...uh, I think the third one signs you up for Atlantis Resort updates. Yes, the Cannery has gone promotion-happy, and we couldn't be happier about it. Sundays, Casa Cocina serves up all-you-can-eat tacos and a bottomless margarita for $9.99. On Thursday, Jan. 30, 250 base points or 30 table points will earn you a free six-pack of Dos Equis and a Dos Equis key ring. They have $3 single-deck, and the retro WWII-era look, with lots of vintage ad and poster art, is plenty entertaining.

Head North, Jazz Man: The Aliante, off 215-W and Aliante Parkway, is about as far north as we're going to go without saying "The heck, let's just go to Reno," but for jazz buffs, it would be definitely worth the trip: Jazz luminaries such as Diane Schuur and Eliane Elias are coming to their showroom. Jeff Kashiwa, who's appearing Saturday with his Sax Pack, is guest-hosting the Jazz Lounge program Friday at noon on 91.5 FM, and will be giving away tickets to his show! The casino is spacious and airy, with great line-of-sight, and $5 double-deck games. My player's club host was highly helpful and generous, handing out a magnetization-proof player's card holder and an Aliante license plate frame, although she did turn to her colleagues and say, "I did it! I finally got rid of the last one!"

Sisters: The Bighorn, on E. Lake Mead, is akin to one of our favorite Boulder Highway hangouts, the Longhorn, and save for the absence of a lounge stage or an attached hotel, replicates much of the same experience, including low, low blackjack limits with the most liberal rules for the player you can find in or out of town. Brian, anyway, extended his winning streak at using his blackjack match plays on this trip to 4-for-4 here (my record is holding steady at 1-for-4.)

Paydirt: The Silver Nugget is on the same My Points player's card program as two other casinos north of downtown on Las Vegas Blvd., the Opera House and Lucky Club, but it's the largest of the three and features that favorite of Vegas locals, a bowling alley. It also offers the Homestack Cafe, where homesick tourists can sit underneath a map of their home state while they order the inexpensive specials (even more inexpensive with two-for-one coupons from the American Casino Guide). I will give props to the Lucky Club for giving me both dice and playing cards on my ACG coupon instead of making me choose one.