Classic Las Vegas Lives On At Best Western Plus’s Casino Royale

Known for cheap drinks, a center Strip location and a classic Vegas vibe, satisfied guests describe Best Western Plus’s Casino Royale as a “hidden gem,” and a “diamond in the rough.”

Catering primarily to budget-minded travelers, the hotel charges no resort fees. It offers reasonable room rates, free parking, free high-speed internet access and the lowest ATM fees of any Strip casino. Adjacent to the Venetian and across the street from The Mirage, Best Western Plus Casino Royale is steps away from fine dining, shopping and entertainment.

Club Royale

Club Royale Players Club is a loyalty program that rewards guests for gambling in the casino. Members earn Comp Dollars for playing slots and video poker. The rate at which they’re earned is unknown because Club Royale Players Club has no set formula for Comp Dollars. Comp Dollars can be used to pay for a hotel stay when a guest has enough points to cover the entire cost of the room for one night. Comp Dollars can also be redeemed at Denny’s, White Castle, Pizza Hut, Subway, Nathans, Fat Tuesday and Outback Steakhouse. 

How to get More Comps

You can’t get points without a players card, but there are times it’s best not to use one. Primarily, when you don’t plan to gamble long or invest much money. Pretend you put $300 into play Saturday, then in a rush to catch your flight the next day, you can’t resist tapping the spin button a few more times. Do that and the high rating you earned Saturday will plummet. In situations like this, go ahead and play Sunday, just don’t use your players card.

It may take some of the fun out of gambling, but you’ll earn the most comps by draining your entire bankroll for the trip in one day at one casino. Gambling $300 on the same day earns a player a higher rating and more comps than betting $100 in chips each day for three days.

Take Advantage of Promotions

The Player Payback slot promotion at Best Western Plus Casino Royale rewards players club members for losing at slots and video poker. The first $20 lost is returned as $20 in Free Slot Play. From then on, players earn $20 in Free Slot Play for every $100 lost.

What Slots Are At Casino Royale?

Beloved by low-limit gamblers, Best Western Plus Casino Royale offers slot play in denominations ranging from one cent to $5. The casino has more than 70 different games including Buffalo Gold, Monopoly and Willy Wonka. In addition, progressive slots, including the $1 Megabucks, offer the chance to get rich quickly. Players are required to bet $3 per spin to qualify for the progressive. The Megabucks jackpot starts at $10 million, and a portion of every dollar put into a machine is added to the total. In 2003, a 25-year-old software engineer won the biggest slot machine jackpot in history at a Las Vegas

Casino. The Los Angeles man had put $100 through a Nevada Megabucks machine when he hit the progressive worth $39.7 million.

When you’re the one to win big, the casino takes precautions before handing over a grand prize worth more than $1 million. To begin with, a technician will inspect your machine to ensure it hasn’t malfunctioned. According to a recent article in the Las Vegas Sun, a slot attendant will ask for your ID, and provide you with an IRS document intended for gambling winnings. With all eyes on you, a representative from the slot machine manufacturer, in this case, International Game Technology, will hand you an oversized commemorative check. You will be required to provide your social security and bank account numbers before you can collect your jackpot. The prize money is wired into your account or delivered to your door as a check. The player has 60 to 90 days to decide whether to take his prize as an annuity paid out annually for 25 years, or accept 60% upfront as a lump sum. Most of the money will be taxed at a rate of 37%.

Around 750 Megabucks progressive slot machines are linked together in 136 casinos statewide. The odds of hitting the progressive are nearly 1 in 50 million. The bottom line is that jackpots may be smaller, but payback percentages clearly favor non-progressive slot machines. Megabuck $1 slot machines return around 88%, while non-progressives return 95% – 96%.

Video Poker

First introduced to gamblers in 1979, it took two short years for video poker to become one of the most popular games in the casino. The skill-based game with great odds caught on with Las Vegas locals and out-of-towners alike. Today, serious players study strategy and collect comps to help overcome the casino’s modest edge. More than 40 years after its introduction, you’d be hard-pressed to find a casino in the country that doesn’t offer video poker.

The goal of the game is to make a five-card poker hand that matches one of the winning hands on the paytable. At the bottom of most video poker pay tables, a pair of jacks pays 1:1, or even money. At the top, a royal flush pays 800:1. Unlike slots, video poker games have pay tables posted on every machine. Some machines have a higher payout ratio than the rest. If you’re playing Jacks or Better, look for one that pays 9 to 1 for a full house and 6 to 1 for a flush. 

Five cards are displayed on the screen when a player inserts his money into the machine and presses “deal.” The player can hold as many cards or as few as he likes. He presses the “hold” button corresponding to each card he intends to keep. The rest are discarded and replaced with new ones to complete his final five-card poker hand.

Sportsbook

A sports bar with a single betting window is conveniently located in the center of the casino. Sports fans can watch tv at the bar, place a bet or walk to the food court for a low-cost meal. The sports bar was constructed as part of a 2016 renovation. Best Western Plus Casino Royale introduced plans to incorporate a sportsbook and sports bar in the casino. Somewhere along the line, plans changed because the sportsbook by William Hill at Best Western Plus Casino Royale is not an actual sportsbook, but a lively place to watch and bet on sports. 

A Bit of History

A fixture on the Las Vegas Strip, Best Western Plus Casino Royale opened in 1964 under the name the Caravan Motor Hotel. The property traded hands several times, and in 1983, was purchased by Holiday Inn. In 1992, the hotel and casino were remodeled and bought by Casino Royale. In 2013, Casino Royale became part of the Best Western hotel chain. One year later, the hotel added a Walgreens and a White Castle, all the while leveling Denny’s and rebuilding it on the second floor. This property is known for having some of the best cheap eats on the Strip.