Off-Strip: Sam's Town

Sam's Town, one of the joints so beloved of the locals along Boulder Highway, has as its lush centerpiece the Mystic Falls Park, a peaceful sylvan glade of a place underneath a huge atrium, which starting at 2 p.m. becomes host to a laser light and water spectacular at regular intervals. Like several other casinos in the B-Connected players club, it includes a movieplex and  bowling alley. Table minimums are low, there's 20x odds at the $3 craps table, and the poker room has at least  three tournaments a day with entry fees as low as $23. If you're 50 or over, on Wednesdays this month you get to swipe at the kiosk to get your points multiplied as much as 50 times; 10 points earn you a $4 movie voucher or a 2-for-1 buffet, or 50 points gets you a free buffet. For the rest of us, 600 points gets you a free movie ticket, Buffalo slots have 20x points on Mondays, and all slots have 4x points on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. Hankering for some old-fashioned entertainment? On April 5, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra swings in for an evening of dining and dancing.