Introduction

I've been staying at Red Rock almost weekly over the past year and it is as good as just about any any casino and resort you will find in Vegas. Gaming: The casino has plenty of gaming tables and options to choose from, including a high limit room with $100 black jack and baccarat. The Red Rock Casino poker room is one of the establishments under the Station Casinos banner. Red Rock live poker room players have access to 20 tables of action, usually ranging between $1-$2 and $2-$5 no-limit hold’em and limit hold’em. As is the case on other Station Casino properties, other poker game variants are only available on request. The High Limit Room at Red Rock has may different selections of games; such as Video Poker, Dancing Drums, and Buffalo but there is only 1 Pharaoh’s Fortune and we decided to try our luck. Now you all know that the bonus game on this high limit slot machine is a “picking” feature and for whatever reason, every time I play I am always so anxious when the bonus hits.

The Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa is located 10 miles north of the Las Vegas Strip in Summerlin, Nevada. The 70-acre site is located at the corner of Charleston Blvd. Poker royal flush vs royal flush. and I-215.

The Red Rock is a Station Casino, and in fact the corporate headquarters is located on the premises. The décor could be described as Desert Modern or Desert Art Deco. It’s very impressive with enormous Swarofski crystal chandeliers featuring over 3 million pieces of crystal. Wikipedia describes the site as a “locals” casino, but if it is, it’s the most expensive and luxurious locals casino I’ve ever seen.

The Rock Room Red Rocks

The Red Rock opened in 2006, at a cost of $930 million. It features a full casino with all the standard slots and table games, 11 restaurants, a 60-lane bowling alley, a 500 seat Bingo parlor, a 16 screen movie theatre, and a 3-acre (!) pool area and spa. The total casino area is 87,000 sq. feet, and the convention center has an area of 94,000 sq. feet. The total number of rooms is 815.

The Red Rock has a very understated, elegant style compared to most Las Vegas properties. I found it to be very classy, and it looks like the intention is to attract big corporate events. The property has a lot of appeal to those who would prefer to stay out of Vegas. There is an emphasis on amenities such as the spa, pool, hiking, and outdoor activities.

I checked into the Red Rock for one night on July 2, 2009. This review is based on my experience.

Gambling

According to the 2009 American Casino Guide, the Red Rock has 56,750 square feet of casino space. By way of comparison, the MGM has 2.75 times as much at 156,023. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the Red Rock has 67 table games, 20 poker tables, and 2,890 slots. By way of comparison, the MGM Grand has 178 table games, 23 poker tables, and 2,470 slots. So, the Red Rock has more slots, and almost as many poker tables as the MGM. Here is a game by game table game count:

Baccarat: 4
Blackjack: 41
Craps: 5
Let it Ride: 1
Pai Gow Poker: 6
Roulette: 5
Three Card Poker: 2
Seven Card Thrill: 1
Texas Hold 'Em Bonus: 1
Crazy 4 Poker: 1

Following are some comments about some of the table game rules. The Wizard had to help me with this part.

Bingo

The Red Rock has an enormous bingo room. There is a separate glassed-off room for the smokers. The Wizard says the best session is at 9PM, and the best value is in the Countdown cards.

Blackjack

Most of the blackjack tables had the following rules:

Six decks
Dealer hits soft 17
Double after split allowed
Surrender not allowed
Re-splitting aces allowed

The house edge under those rules is 0.56%, according to the Current Blackjack Newsletter rule survey (link). $5 minimum tables at these rules were not difficult to find. For a $25 minimum bet, there were also plenty of double-deck games, with otherwise the same rules, for a house edge of 0.35%. In the high-limit room there were $100-minimum tables with liberal Strip rules, as follows:

Six decks
Dealer stands on soft 17
Double after split allowed
Surrender allowed
Re-splitting aces allowed.

Those rules result in a house edge of 0.26%.

Craps

3-4-5X odds were allowed, which is the Vegas norm. The hop bets paid 15 to 1 and 30 to 1, which is also the norm. The 12 on the field bet paid 3 to 1, which is good.

Keno

The Red Rock is one of the few casinos left to have live keno. They offer some progressive jackpots, which the Wizard addresses on at WizardOfOdds.com.

Poker

17 tables, rake 10%, max. $4, NL and Limit, Omaha 8, up to $5-10.

I played in this room for a couple of hours late at night. After 10:00 the convention people started to disappear, and the locals began to show up. You can tell the locals because they generally have fewer teeth and more tattoos than the conventioneers. After midnight, things started to get loud and a little more cantankerous. So I left early. At my age, I’m thinking more about falling asleep on that incredible mattress than anything else.

Roulette

All the wheels had two zeros.

Sports Book

The Red Rock has a very impressive race and sports book. I counted 21 betting windows, 150 cubicles, 23 lounge chairs, a VIP area, plus a bar and deli.

Video Poker

If you are a low-limit video poker player, you'll be happy to know the Red Rock has lots of 'full pay' games, under some 'Optimum Play' banks near some of the entrances. These banks offer the following games. The returns are based on optimal strategy.

Full pay deuces wild (100.76%) 25¢
10-7 Double Bonus (100.17%) 25¢, 50¢, $1
Full pay loose deuces (100.15%) 25¢, 50¢, $1
10-6 Double Double Bonus (100.07%) 25¢, 50¢, $1

High-limit players will not be as happy. For players at the $5 level and above, the best game is 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17%).

High Limit Room

The Red Rock's high-limit room features eight blackjack and two baccarat tables.

Non-Smoking Areas

120 slots are set aside as non-smoking.
The main bingo room (the smokers are in a separate room, separated by a glass wall).
Poker room.

Player Club

According to vpFree2, most video poker games earn one point for every dollar bet. An exception is the 'Optimum Play' games that return over 100%, which require $4 bet to earn a point.

1000 points may be redeemed for $1 in free play, for a rebate of 0.1%. 600 points may be redeemed for $1 in comps, for a rebate of 0.17%.

They gave me $3 in free slot play for signing up.

My Own Gambling

The Wiz and I played the 2-deck $25 game for a while. We didn’t have much luck but the dealers and players knew an amazing amount of trivia. We should have played Trivial Pursuit and left our money home.

Hotel

The cost of rooms averages about $75-125 depending on the day of the week and season. The Wiz paid $150 for my room (TY Wiz), but I suspect that to be higher than average owing to the fact that it was the 4th of July weekend. The package prices ranged from a one-night $75 family rate to a 3 night $699 concert package. There were other offers depending on what you like to do on vacation such as a spa/golf (2 nights $399), outdoors adventure (2 nights $520), or party in the Presidential Suite (1 night $600).

My 11th floor room had a beautiful view of the Strip and Downtown Vegas. The room has much the same feel as the rest of the property – tasteful reds and browns in a desert modern style. The bed had a pillow top mattress, and I counted 9 pillows of various shapes and sizes. There was a 45” Panasonic TV and a writing desk. In addition there was a fully stocked pay bar that included a disposable camera and an “intimacy kit”. I didn’t look inside the intimacy kit, but it looked big enough to hold about 10-15 condoms, which ought to be sufficient for one night of intimacy.

The bathroom had white marble floors and tub, a separate shower and toilet. There was a TV over the tub with remote plus a soft terrycloth robe. The bathroom was stocked with crystal glasses and several types of shampoo, soap and cologne. The overall effect is very luxurious and comfortable.

Lines

Both the cashier and pl

Red Rock Casino High Limit Room